Where was Yogi Berra when I needed him on Wednesday?  It was deja vu all over again in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, as lawmakers battled over some unfinished health care reform work from July.  Except it was now late September.

Back on July 31, when Democrats muscled a health reform bill through Energy & Commerce, Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman opted against action on a group of amendments because of the late hour.

He then promised both parties that he would have a "supplemental markup" in September to work on those items, and that's what happened yesterday.

It seemed so simple, until GOP lawmakers realized they had a great opportunity to make some points about the health care reform process.

One by one, the Republicans on this committee said that after the upheaval in August in town hall meetings across the country, Waxman should allow a freewheeling debate on what a reform bill should look like.

But the Wax wasn't having any of that, as he gaveled down Republicans and forced them to withdraw their amendments that weren't in order.

Meanwhile, the same kind of story line was playing out over in the Senate Finance Committee, where the mild-mannered Max Baucus was having to get tough with his panel, as he tries to muscle a bill through the committee by Friday.

"I'm sorry, Senator, it's time for a vote," said Baucus, as he cut off one Republican.

"Well that's an interesting way to run a ship," huffed Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky, who had trouble staying awake on day one of the Senate markup.

As I type this, it's 10:42 pm on Wednesday night, and the Senate markup is still going strong, just as Henry Waxman kept his panel working late back in July.

The long hours understandably led to some silly moments as Senators grappled with a series of highly technical issues.

"You understand all that?" Sen. Max Baucus said at one point to chuckles from the audience to Sen. Orrin Hatch.

"No," said a smiling Hatch.

"Neither do I," said Baucus, setting off a much needed round of laughter in the hearing room.

But it wasn't taking any viewers away from Jay Leno, I'm sure.