NASHUA, N.H. President Barack Obama hit the road again Tuesday to promote the new job-creation program he described as his No. 1 priority, but he refused to abandon his embattled health care legislation, vowing to "punch it through" resistance in Congress.

In a feisty and at times biting performance, Obama said that the rising national debt "keeps me awake at night," but he put much of the blame for it on his predecessor and on unrestrained health care spending that he wants to rein in.

The New Hampshire visit was the latest stop on Obama's barnstorming tour of the country to recalibrate his presidency since the special election in Massachusetts cost his party unfettered control of the Senate. His town-hall-style meeting at a local high school was the fifth time he has taken questions from an audience or over the Internet in 12 days. He rejected the notion that the Massachusetts election doomed health care.

"Suddenly, everybody says, 'Oh no, it's over,'" Obama said in mocking tones. "Well, no, it's not over. We just have to make sure that we move methodically and that the American people understand what's in the bill."

The emphasis came a week after he did not mention health care until deep into his State of the Union address, and he seemed intent on erasing any doubts about his commitment. "We had to go into overtime," Obama said. "But we are now in the red zone. That's exactly right. We're in the red zone. We've got to punch it through."

The president came to New Hampshire to tout a proposal to use $30 billion of repaid bailout loans from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to help community banks increase lending to small businesses, part of a broader effort to stimulate job creation.

The Independent Community Bankers of America praised the plan, saying in a statement that "every dollar of capital that goes into a community bank can potentially be leveraged eight to 10 times into loans to small businesses." But the Credit Union National Association declared itself "outraged and baffled," asserting that the government could do more without cost to taxpayers by allowing more business lending by credit unions.

Critics said the plan was misguided because community banks have sufficient capital but are not lending as much as larger banks because they have trouble finding worthy borrowers. And some Republicans criticized the plan because under current law repaid bailout loan money is supposed to repay public debt.

"It's not for a piggy bank because you're concerned about lending to small businesses and you want to get a political event when you go out and make a speech in Nashua, N.H.," Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., told the White House budget director at a testy hearing in Washington. "That's not what this money's for. This money is to reduce the debt of our children."

The administration wants Congress to change the law and argued that most if not all of the money would eventually be repaid, meaning it would add relatively little to the deficit over time.