Obama salutes Senate healthcare vote
WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- The United States is "now incredibly close to making health insurance reform a reality" after the Senate healthcare vote, President Barack Obama said Thursday.
"If passed, this will be the most important piece of social policy since the Social Security Act in the 1930s," Obama said, "and the most important reform of our healthcare system since Medicare passed in the 1960s."
The president said that with the passage of reform bills in both houses of Congress, "We are now finally poised to deliver on the promise of real, meaningful health insurance reform that will bring additional security and stability to the American people."
"The reform bill that passed the Senate this morning, like the House bill, includes the toughest measures ever taken to hold the insurance industry accountable," he said.
"Insurance companies will no longer be able to deny you coverage on the basis of a preexisting condition. They will no longer be able to drop your coverage when you get sick. No longer will you have to pay unlimited amounts out of your own pocket for the treatments you need."
With the 60-39 Senate vote, which would make coverage affordable for an estimated 31 million Americans, "We are now incredibly close to making health insurance reform a reality in this country," he said.
"Our challenge, then, is to finish the job. We can't doom another generation of Americans to soaring costs and eroding coverage and exploding deficits."
Senate approves healthcare bill
WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate voted 60-39 Thursday to approve a landmark 10-year, $871 billion healthcare bill to help cover 31 million uninsured Americans.
The proposal, passed in the first Christmas Eve session in the Senate in more than five decades, also would begin a far-reaching overhaul of Medicare and the insurance market.
The 7 a.m. vote was the last in a string of votes capping months of infighting and procedural delays. The measure includes federal subsidies to help low- and middle-income people buy health insurance as well as a raft of new taxes to finance the venture.
It brings Democrats closer than ever to realizing their 70-year-old goal of universal health coverage, The Washington Post said.
For the first time, most Americans would be required to obtain health insurance, through their employer or new, government-regulated exchanges.
Federal subsidies would be available for those who cannot afford insurance plans. Medicaid would be vastly expanded to reach millions of low-income children and adults.
Difficult issues still must be resolved in final negotiations with the House, which has passed more liberal health-care reform legislation. While this could take months, Democrats believe President Obama will sign a bill into law in early 2010.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared, "We stand on the doorstep of history."
U.S. father reunited with son in Brazil
RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- The U.S. Consulate in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, said U.S. resident David Goldman was reunited with his son, Sean, Thursday after a five-year custody battle.
The U.S. consulate said in a statement Goldman was finally reunited with Sean after battling his deceased wife's Brazilian family for custody of the 9-year-old, CNN reported.
"Sean Goldman is finally with his father David," the consulate said. "The U.S. consulate is doing its utmost to assure that the reunion will be as smooth as possible."
The reunion of the father and son follows a ruling Tuesday by the Brazilian Supreme Court Chief Justice Gilmar Mendes, who granted Goldman custody of his son.
CNN said the ruling ended the lengthy custody dispute that began in 2004 when Goldman's wife, Bruna Bianchi, took Sean from New Jersey to Brazil.
What was initially supposed to be a vacation for the mother and son instead resulted in Bianchi remarrying and maintaining custody of Sean. Bianci died in 2008 in childbirth.
While Goldman attempted to regain custody of his son, Bianci's family in Brazil opposed the request on the grounds such a change after five years could negatively impact the child, CNN reported.
Christian Palestinians flock to Bethlehem
JERUSALEM, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- The Israeli government and military said more than 10,000 Christian Palestinians have taken advantage of permits to spend Christmas in Israel.
A statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the permits are good for 30 days through Jan. 20 and there is no limit on how many could be issued.
The ministry said border crossings in the Bethlehem area would operate on a 24-hour basis, with extra Civil Administration personnel operating them.
"Israeli security forces will continue to operate in order to ensure freedom of religion and a normal way of life for Palestinians uninvolved in terrorism," the statement said.
The ministry said Israeli journalists will be authorized to enter the cities of Bethlehem and Ramallah with their vehicles.
The New Testament of the Bible cites Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus 2,009 years ago.
Four people killed in factory explosion
OSAKA, Japan, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Four people died Thursday morning in Osaka, Japan, in an explosion at a chemical factory, police say.
Osaka Prefectural Police said the deadly blast took place at the Kanzakigawa Plant owned by Morita Chemical Industries Co. and involved a boron trifluoride storage tank, The Mainichi Daily News reported.
The four workers killed in the blast were on top of the tank when the explosion occurred. The victims were identified as Kazuhiro Hayashi, 47, Tatsuya Nakatani, 45, Tomoyuki Kanazawa, 33, and Keisuke Nishida, 30.
Police said sparks caused by an employee sawing a hole into the tank may have caused the explosion. The incident is under investigation.
The Daily News said boron trifluoride is toxic but not flammable. The chemical compound is used to help manufacture petroleum resin.
Clunker Cash car comes back to haunt owner
AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- A Texas family said a month after trading their truck in the Cash for Clunkers program they got a letter saying their truck was emitting pollutants on the road.
Micahel Nalick of Austin said he brought in his parents' 1994 Dodge Dakota to Russell and Smith Honda in Houston in September to trade in for a 2009 Honda Civic, the Austin American-Statesman reported Thursday.
The federal program, which allowed motorists to bring in older vehicles in exchange for a $3,500 to $4,500 credit toward recent model, more fuel-efficient car, also required dealers to junk the old cars, the newspaper reported.
"The worst-case scenario is that someone abused the program and sold the car. I was astonished that there is a possibility that could have occurred," Nalick said.
At Russell and Smith Honda, general sales manager Jack Carney said it's unlikely it was resold.
"The dealership disabled the engine and the salvage yard we used was meticulous," said Jack Carney, general sales manager at the Houston dealership.
Carney said he thinks someone might have stolen the license plates, because plates have been taken before in Houston to be used on toll roads.
