, told reporters after the meeting . He urged the Democrats to `` start over and go step by step and target the areas of possible agreement that we discussed in the meeting today . '' Sen. John Boehner , R-Ohio , sounded equally unenthusiastic . `` I think the American people want us to work together on common steps to make our current system work better , '' he said . `` We ca n't do it within the framework of a 2,700-page bill . '' Live updates from the health care summit `` The president let everybody talk and talk and talk , '' said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , who called Obama `` the most patient man in the world . '' Though there were areas of agreement , he said , `` every Republican used the same talking points . '' He , too , appeared to raise the specter of attempting to move forward through the parliamentary shortcut , known as reconciliation . `` It 's time we do something and we 're going to do it , '' the Nevada Democrat said . House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was `` not overly
Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- President Obama and Republican and Democratic leaders engaged in a spirited but civil debate at a health care summit Thursday , finding agreement on some issues but appearing to find little common ground on how to move forward in a bipartisan way . `` I do n't know , frankly , whether we can close that gap , '' said President Obama as the day-long meeting closed . If agreement is not reached , he said , there will be `` a lot of arguments about procedures in Congress about moving forward , '' an apparent reference to using a parliamentary shortcut under which a health care bill could be passed with a simple majority instead of the 60-vote supermajority the body requires to overcome the filibuster which Republicans have threatened to use . `` My hope had been there might be enough areas of overlap to realistically think about moving forward without a situation in which everyone just goes to their respective corners and this ends up being a political fight , '' he said . `` Frankly , I was discourage by the outcome , '' Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky