AP Top News at 12:19 p.m. EST

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AP Top News at 12:19 p.m. EST

Obama, GOP clash at summit: ‘We have better idea’

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama argued Thursday that a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s broken health care system is imperative for the nation’s future economic vitality, clashing in an extraordinary live-on-TV summit with Republicans who want far more modest changes. “We believe we have a better idea,” declared GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander. With the marathon policy debate available from start to finish to a divided public, Obama cast the health care crisis as “one of the biggest drags on our economy,” painting his overhaul effort as critical to the economic revival that’s even more pressing to many Americans.