Mar. 18, 2010 (United Press International) -- WASHINGTON, March 18 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama signed Thursday an $18 billion jobs bill he says will help put Americans back to work and push the economic recovery ahead. "While this jobs bill is absolutely necessary, it's by no means enough," Obama said in a somber tone during the Rose Garden signing ceremony. "There's a lot more that we're going to need to do to spur hiring in the private sector and bring about full economic recovery." The measure, which enjoyed bipartisan support as it moved through Congress, will do several things, Obama said. First, it will forgive payroll taxes for businesses hiring someone who has been unemployed for at least two months, he said. The benefit applies to hiring people unemployed between February and the end of the year. "So this tax cut says to employers: If you hire a worker who's unemployed, you won't have to pay payroll taxes on that worker for the rest of the year," Obama said. The measure also allows small businesses to write off investments they make in equipment this year, he said. It also will reform municipal bonds to spur job creation by expanding investment in schools and clean energy projects. "With this law, we'll make it easier for them (cities) to raise the money they need to do what they want to do by using a model that we've called Build America Bonds -- one of the most successful programs in the (economic stimulus package)," he said. The jobs bill also will maintain "maintain crucial investments in our roads and our bridges as we head into the spring and summer months, when construction jobs are picking up," he said. Obama thanked Democrats and Republicans for joining together to pass the bill, saying economic issues aren't "about politics." "They're not about Democrat versus Republican. This isn't a game that we're playing here," he said. "They're about the people in this country who are out of work and looking for a job; they're about all the Americans -- of every race and region and age -- who've shared their stories with me over the last year." WASHINGTON, March 18 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama put off his trip to Indonesia and Australia until June, citing a potential House healthcare vote, the White House said Thursday. "The development of the timing of a likely vote and the president's desire to be here" led to Obama's decision to put off his travel, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. Having delayed his trip by several days already because of this week's movement on healthcare reform, Gibbs said "we just didn't have (any) padding left." The countries' leaders understand Obama's involvement and "the importance of seeing this through," Gibbs said. Asked about the bill's fate, Gibbs said, "I believe this bill will pass the House, then pass the Senate." The House Rules Committee posted the revised Senate version on its Web site shortly after 2 p.m. Eastern time, starting the 72-hour review period. The revised bill includes language that would expand federal aid to U.S. college students. The measure will "lower costs to the American family budget while lowering the federal deficit," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said during a news conference. Pelosi's office said the Congressional Budget Office's preliminary scoring for the legislation would cut the deficit by $138 billion in the first 10 years and by $1.2 trillion in the following decade. The bill's $940 billion, 10-year price tag would be paid for by eliminating waste and fraud in Medicare, adding a fee to the most expensive healthcare plans and imposing a Medicare fee on unearned income, among other things, she said. The revised Senate version also would expand health insurance coverage to 32 million Americans, which was greater than either of the House or Senate version that passed last year. When asked why she was having difficulty rounding up the 216 votes necessary to pass the bill despite a comfortable majority, the California Democrat said, "We have a great diversity in our caucus. (We) are not a rubber-stamp caucus." Pelosi was joined by several legislators who spoke about different aspects of the bill, and several insurance consumers who outlined what healthcare reform would mean to them. She cautioned that opponents of the reform legislation would unleash "a full menu ... of misrepresentation" in the coming days. House Republicans, meanwhile, are engaging in activities to stir up opposition to the healthcare reform bill in home districts of Democrats considered vulnerable in the November elections, House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio told Politico. To ensure fiscal soundness, help spur the nation's economy and international competitiveness, and provide affordable coverage, "we will make history" by passing the healthcare legislation, Pelosi said. Under the Democratic plan, the House would pass the Senate bill and an accompanying measure of fixes by this weekend, Politico said. Obama would sign the Senate bill, and the Senate would take up the package of fixes through reconciliation, a parliamentary procedure that requires a simple majority to pass legislation, not a 60-vote supermajority necessary to block a filibuster. WASHINGTON, March 18 (UPI) -- The healthcare reform package slated for a vote in the U.S. House would cost $940 billion over the next 10 years, Congress's bean-counters said Thursday. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the package would reduce the federal deficit by $138 billion over 10 years, and $1.2 trillion in the second decade of its implementation, the office's document indicated. Initial reports indicated the reduction would be $130 billion. While the bill is more expensive than the healthcare measures passed by the House and Senate last year, the CBO said the current bill would make larger reductions in the deficit. Several undecided Democrats said they have been waiting for the CBO findings before determining how they would vote. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said Wednesday the party wanted to make sure that the healthcare legislation was paid for and did not add to the deficit. The House is expected to vote this week on the Senate healthcare bill and an accompanying package of fixes to the legislation. House leaders have said they are considering using a contentious rule that would "deem" the Senate bill as having been passed without an actual roll call vote on the measure, The Hill said. Republicans in the House said they are preparing to offer legislation that would try to force an up-or-down vote on the Senate healthcare plan. CHICAGO, March 18 (UPI) -- Chicago resident David C. Headley pleaded guilty Thursday to federal terrorism charges, admitting his role in the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, prosecutors said. In pleading guilty to the 12 counts filed against him, Headley admitted he attended training camps in Pakistan operated by terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Toiba on five occasions, the U.S. Justice Department said in a release. He also admitted to traveling to India to reconnoiter before the Mumbai attacks that killed about 164 people and wounded hundreds more. He also pleaded guilty to planning an attack on a Danish newspaper that had published cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohammad. Headley presented his plea during a court session before U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber. Federal officials said Headley has cooperated with them since his arrest Oct. 3, 2009, and the plea agreement said he "has provided substantial assistance to the criminal investigation, and also has provided information of significant intelligence value." Because of Headley's cooperation, federal prosecutors are authorized not to seek the death penalty against him. "Today's guilty plea is a crucial step forward in our efforts to achieve justice for the more than 160 people who lost their lives in the Mumbai terrorist attacks," Attorney General Eric Holder said. "Working with our domestic and international partners, we will not rest until all those responsible for the Mumbai attacks and the terror plot in Denmark are held accountable." "Not only has the criminal justice system achieved a guilty plea in this case, but David Headley is now providing us valuable intelligence about terrorist activities," he said. Headley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bomb public places in India; conspiracy to murder and maim persons in India; six counts of aiding and abetting the murder of U.S. citizens in India; conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism in India; conspiracy to murder and maim persons in Denmark; conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism in Denmark; and conspiracy to provide material support to Lashkar-e-Toiba. PHILADELPHIA, March 18 (UPI) -- The Pennsylvania woman known as "Jihad Jane" pleaded not guilty Thursday to terrorism charges during her arraignment in federal courtroom in Philadelphia. Colleen LaRose, who used the moniker "Jihad Jane" on the Internet, was in court for about 2 1/2 minutes during the proceeding before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lynne A. Sitarski, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. LaRose, wearing a green jail uniform, said "not guilty" in a raspy voice before being led away in handcuffs. She will remain in custody until her trial, which Sitarski scheduled for May 3. Knowledgeable sources told the Inquirer LaRose, 46, had confessed to the FBI about her role in a plot to kill Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who angered Muslims with a drawing, done for an exhibit on free expression, that portrays the Prophet Mohammed as a dog. She confessed to FBI agents about her role in the plot shortly after she was arrested in October, two people told the Inquirer. She was taken into custody at the Philadelphia airport after traveling to Europe and visiting with alleged co-conspirators in Ireland, federal officials said. LaRose was charged March 4 with providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to kill in a foreign country. The indictment said LaRose conspired with five unindicted, unidentified men to use the Internet to find and recruit men willing to carry out terrorist acts in South Asia and Europe. They also allegedly sought women who had passports and could travel to help the fighters. PRETORIA, South Africa, March 18 (UPI) -- South African President Jacob Zuma, dogged by the revelation he had a child out of wedlock, withstood a parliamentary vote of no confidence Thursday. The motion, submitted by the opposition party Congress of the People with support from the Democratic Alliance, failed 241-84 with eight abstentions, the BBC reported. It was the first no confidence attempt since the African National Congress rose to power 16 years ago. The vote came while Zuma, who has three wives, was in Zimbabwe trying to defuse political tensions there, the British broadcaster noted. It became known this year Zuma had a child with the 39-year-old daughter of a local World Cup official. "The president of our country has let us down. He has let Africa and the world down," Mvume Dandala, head of the Congress of the People, told the National Assembly. "It is common knowledge how the president has failed this nation by his repeated risky sexual behavior, thus weakening the crucial fight against HIV/AIDS and setting a poor example." Defense Minister Lindiwe Sisulu called the attempt to upend Zuma "a frivolous waste of time."
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