House, Senate prepare separate health care reforms

WASHINGTON – Firing up his drive for health care overhaul, President Barack Obama pressed lawmakers Wednesday to step up to their responsibilities and move legislation this summer, even as his campaign organization rolled out television ads targeting reluctant senators.

A Senate panel cast a milestone vote to advance a bill, the first to act on Obama’s goal. But the party-line decision in the health committee signaled a deepening rift in Congress. While Democrats respond to Obama’s call for action with renewed determination, Republicans are using harsher words to voice their misgivings.

The political space for a bipartisan compromise that could win support from most sectors of society appeared to be narrowing by the hour. The Republican National Committee, in a fundraising appeal, warned of “Obamacare,” a play on the failed “Hillarycare” of the 1990s.

The president, in a Rose Garden appearance with nurses, gave a nod to the goal of bipartisanship. But he left no doubt that he wants action above all else — and quickly. House committees prepared to vote as early as Thursday on their legislation.

Wednesday’s Senate health committee vote “should make us hopeful — but it can’t make us complacent,” Obama said. “It should instead provide the urgency for both the House and the Senate to finish their critical work on health reform before the August recess.”

Obama wants each chamber to act this summer, so lawmakers can reconcile differences in their respective bills after Labor Day and put final legislation on his desk this fall.

Obama’s all-out effort since he returned from his overseas trip last week has “galvanized things,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.