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Obama lauds House healthcare bill

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- The introduction of a healthcare reform bill in the U.S. House marks another critical step in reforming the U.S. healthcare system, President Barack Obama said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and other Democratic leaders Thursday announced the chamber's version of healthcare reform, which the speaker said met Obama's mandate of costing less than $900 billion and be revenue neutral over a 10-year period.

"The House legislation includes critical reforms to the insurance industry, so that Americans will no longer have to worry that they will be denied coverage, or that their coverage will be dropped or watered down when they need it most," Obama said in a statement. "I'm also pleased that the bill includes a public option offered in an exchange. As I've said throughout this process, a public option that competes with private insurers is the best way to ensure choice and competition that are so badly needed in today's market."

Obama said the House bill also meets two of his requirements -- it is paid for and will reduce the deficit.

"While we know there will may more steps and much spirited debate before a bill reaches my desk, I congratulate the House on their work so far," Obama said. "I'm confident that members will continue to work together to deliver meaningful reform for America's families and businesses."

Obama: Health reform helps small business

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama pitched healthcare reform to small-business owners Thursday, saying they stood to gain if proposed changes become law.

"Now, few have a bigger stake in what happens than all of you," Obama told members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Business, and small business owners and organizations from across the country.

"Now, there is no doubt that this (House) legislation, and the legislation that's being drafted in the Senate, would benefit millions of small businesses," Obama said. "It's being written with the interests of Americans like you and your employees in mind."

He stressed that if owners they can keep their existing plans if they like them, but "what we will do is make the coverage you're providing (employees) more affordable" by providing a tax credit for up to 50 percent of the company's premium.

Healthcare reform also would end a practice of insurance companies using one person's illness to raise rates for everyone in the plan, Obama said.

For people and entities who can't afford health coverage, "we'll make it affordable for you," Obama said, through an exchange program that would pool small businesses "to gain leverage" when working with insurers.

"And with all that additional leverage, you'll be able to get better deals than you could have ever received on your own," Obama said.

But, he said, "nothing's free."

Businesses of a certain size that don't provide coverage for their employees may be required to contribute to premium costs, he said.

However, "90 percent of all businesses would be exempt from this requirement," the president said.

Last week, Obama announced initiatives that would raise caps on existing Small Business Administration loans and give smaller banks better access to Troubled Asset Relief Program funding to encourage more lending.

Two people shot at Los Angeles synagogue

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Two men were shot by a gunman Thursday at a Los Angeles synagogue in what police sources say could be a hate crime.

An unidentified police representative told The Los Angeles Times the shooting victims, both men around 30 years old, were in stable condition with gunshot wounds to the torso.

Anonymous police sources said the unidentified gunman shot the men, described as Jewish by police, as they were entering the Adat Yeshurun Valley Sephardic synagogue Thursday morning.

The sources said robbery is not a suspected motive in the shooting, leading detectives to treat the incident as a possible hate crime.

An unidentified man was arrested in the area following the shooting, but the sources were doubtful the individual was responsible for the shooting.

The Times said police informed other Los Angeles synagogues about the morning incident as a precaution. Police patrols of Jewish religious facilities in the city were increased.

Wrangling over Blair for EU president

BRUSSELS, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- A new entrant has emerged as lobbying for and against ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair as the European Union's first full-time president intensified.

Former Irish Prime Minister John Bruton, completing a five-year term as EU ambassador to Washington, contacted European governments to bid for the post, the Irish Times reported Thursday.

Bruton said that as ambassador he works harmoniously with all 27 EU member states and was well qualified to be the full-time president of the European Council, the EU's highest political body, representing member nations' heads of state and government.

The position of a full-time president for 2 1/2 years is new, created by the 2007 Lisbon Treaty, which aims to streamline decision-making and reform the bloc's structures. The treaty, which must still be ratified by Poland and the Czech Republic, does not specify the president's powers.

Blair, 56, has not officially said he wants the job, but will seek it if EU leaders meeting in Brussels agree to make the role substantial, with a globally recognized name, rather than administrative, led by a lesser-known consensus-seeking technocrat, The Times of London reported.

Friends of Blair said he would give up his lucrative commercial interests if he felt he could "make a difference" for Europe, The Times said.

The Financial Times argued in an editorial that "Blair is the wrong man for the EU job."

Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, a European Council president for six months in 1997 and 2005, said Blair didn't "strictly adhere to (EU) community principles."

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told the BBC Thursday Blair would be a divisive choice.

More snow blankets wind-whipped Colorado

DENVER, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- The National Weather Service Thursday forecast additional snowfall for parts of Colorado blanketed by 10 inches to 20 inches of fall snow.

NWS spokesman Kyle Fredin said Denver could see as much as eight additional inches, while nearly an inch of snow per hour was expected in Boulder and Jefferson counties, The Denver Post reported.

The snowstorm that hit the Wyoming and Colorado Rockies this week left more than 3 feet of snow in some areas, AccuWeather.com said.

The snowfall prompted interstate closures in both states, along with parts of western Nebraska. Travel is dangerous as high winds and blizzard conditions have significantly reduced visibility and increased the risk of mountainous drifts, AccuWeather.com said.

Frontier Airlines canceled 19 flights and announced three-to-four hour delays at Denver International Airport due to the inclement weather. Airport officials said crews have been unable to keep runways and taxiways consistently clear of snow.

Internet marks 40th birthday

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- A computer expert said Thursday marks the 40th birthday of the Internet heralded by two computers at California schools connecting for the first time.

Leonard Kleinrock told CNN he was a professor of computer science at the University of California-Los Angeles on Oct. 29, 1969, when the school's host computer was connected to a counterpart at Stanford University's Stanford Research Institute.

"I basically supervised the creation of the Internet at the first node, both in the first connection and the very first message," Kleinrock, 75, said.

"When the host computers talked to each other, I like to say the Internet uttered its first words on that day," he added.

Kleinrock said 40 years later, the Internet has become both a source of information and features as well as a source of potential dangers.

"One of the problems of the Internet is that we didn't install what I like to call strong user authentication or strong file authentication," he told CNN, referring to the growth of computer attacks, identity theft and fraud. "We didn't anticipate the level of the dark side we see today. The culture of the early Internet was one of trust of all the users."