Keeping the old from freezing in the winter

A small victory for the good guys.

After over six months of wrangling by Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and John Kerry (D-MA), the Senate yesterday narrowly passed more funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). The measure, which passed by a vote of 51-49, provides $3.3 billion in funding for fiscal year 2007 for this vital program that helps the elderly and disabled heat their homes in the winter. With the addition of this funding, the program is near the fully-authorized level of $5.1 billion, which had been approved by the Congress before it fell under the Bush administration’s budget-cutting knife. Every Democrat voted for the heating assistance -- championed again by Reed and cosponsored by 15 Democrats -- and they managed to get five cold-weather-state Republicans to side with them for the 51 votes needed for passage.