House Democrats pushed ahead with a compromise health overhaul today over liberals’ complaints, intent on achieving tangible — if modest — success on President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority ahead of a monthlong summer recess.

“We’ve got to pass the bill. Not only do we have to, but we’re going to,” said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, the last of three House committees to act on the sweeping legislation.

In the Senate, which breaks for recess a week later than the House, talks on a bipartisan compromise sputtered with mixed signals emerging from negotiators.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, one of the six lawmakers involved in the talks, said they had made “very good progress” that could lead to a bipartisan bill, “but that’ll never happen if Democrat leaders tell Republicans to take a hike by forcing the committee to move on an all-Democrat bill.”

Pelosi provided House Democrats with talking points to take back to their districts. The headline — “Health Insurance Reform to Hold Insurance Companies Accountable” — showcased Democrats’ stepped-up efforts to cast insurance companies as villains in the debate, as polls show a public increasingly wary of the health care effort.

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