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President Barack Obama talked about the a U.S. economy that has shown improvement despite political turmoil in his weekly radio and internet address while Republicans again focused on the cause of the strife: Obamacare.

Obama says the U.S. economy is improving even if its progress has been overshadowed by political gridlock and the messy rollout of his health care law. The president is seeking to shift the focus away from negative headlines. He says jobs have been created, the auto industry is recovering and deficits are falling.

But Obama says if Democrats and Republicans were working together, the economy could be even further along. He's accusing Republicans of wasting time with dozens of votes to repeal his health care law.

"Imagine how much farther along we could be if both parties were working together," said Obama. "Think about what we could do if a reckless few didn’t hold the economy hostage every few months, or waste time on dozens of votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act rather than try to help us fix it.

In the Republican address, Rep. Michael Burgess of Texas described Obamacare as a "train wreck for doctors, a train wreck for patients, and most importantly, it's a train wreck for the American people."

"It has now become clear that the reality of the president's health care law does not match what he promised: A website that was launched before it was finished. Waves of cancellation letters. The sticker shock of high premiums, coupled with ever-increasing deductibles,"said the Texas Republican who is also a doctor.

He says the U.S. should scrap Obama's health law and start over.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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