Yesterday's Leftovers For 3/10/10: How An Amendment That Helps Needy Families Failed In The Senate

An amendment with undeserved little attention that failed to be placed into the Tax Extenders bill (which has the cloture label now and looks set to pass) yesterday is the Temporary Assistance For Nerdy's Emergency Fund.

The amendment, submitted and proposed by Washington Dem Senator Patty Murray, was co-sponsored by the likes of Harkin, Boxer, Begich, Burris, Levin, Dodd, Gillibrand, Kerry, Schumer, Wyden, and Casey. It's purpose was to extend those invaluable items to families who definitely need them as well as help offer jobs to the youth during summertime.

Now with the filibuster in tact, this amendment always was going to have difficulty getting passed into the final bill (especially with everyone present in the Senate actually yesterday). And it did fail by a 55-45 vote.

But four Democrats had to somehow joined the 41 Republicans in voting against this very important and underrated emergency fund.

Not a surprise that among those four include Ben Nelson. But while the likes of Blanche Lincoln (now devout to be as lefty as she can be since Bill Halter officially declared to defeat her) and Joey Lieberman voted the right way, it was the trio of Claire McCaskill, and Virginia Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner who joined in defeating this common sense amendment.

What is TANF you ask? Well, this is TANF:

TANF is a block grant program to help move recipients into work and turn welfare into a program of temporary assistance. Under the welfare reform legislation of 1996, TANF replaced the old welfare programs known as the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) program, and the Emergency Assistance (EA) program. The law ended Federal entitlement to assistance and instead created TANF as a block grant that provides States, Territories, and Tribes Federal funds each year. These funds cover benefits and services targeted to needy families.

Obama signed the emergency fund for TANF last year with it in the Stimulus Package.

But I guess the House of Lords, thanks to not only the insane party, "Republican Democrat" Nelson, and inexplicably McCaskill, Warner, and Webb thought it wasn't in the best interest to help youth get an income this summer that could help their family.

So while COBRA got all the attention (thanks to the cantankerous nature of one Senate Elevator), the focus on TANF's emergency fund barely elicited even a whisper.