Lauder — Check; Quinn — Check . . .

The Sunday of a holiday weekend is not a bad time to wedge in a guilty admission:

In a complete about-face, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn today embraced legislation to extend term limits for city officials and all but endorsed Mayor Bloomberg for a third term, citing the tumultuous economy.

“I have decided to change my position because I believe the opportunity, the potential of consistent leadership by this council and this mayor, would be in the best interests of the city,” Quinn said, citing the “global economic crisis.”

Until now, she adamantly opposed extending term limits through legislation.

And that brave stance pays off:

Mayor Bloomberg praised City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to the high heavens yesterday, and didn’t deny a Post report he could offer her a job — a day after she publicly threw her support behind the mayor’s plan to extend term limits.

“Chris Quinn, if she wasn’t in government, would have enormous opportunities in the private sector as well as the public sector,” Bloomberg said.

He was reacting to a Page Six report that said Bloomberg is prepared to hire Quinn as a deputy mayor if she loses the speaker’s post in 2010.

Mayoral spokesman Stu Loeser flatly denied the report. A spokesman for Quinn described it as both “untrue” and “malicious.”

Bloomberg didn’t address the question directly. Instead, he made a strong pitch to council members to keep Quinn in her powerful post.

“I just want, for the sake of the city, particularly during tough times, that we’ll have Chris Quinn leading the City Council,” the mayor said.