Reply #7: these are bread and butter issues that reporters should report about.

[rodeodance]

......Reed cited estimates that those who heat their homes with fuel oil will need $1,600 this winter, up $380, while the cost of using natural gas for heating could rise $500 to $1,400.

The Senate also defeated, 53-46, an alternative put forward by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg, R-N.H., that would have increased spending on the program by about $1.3 billion while paying for the increase with an across-the-board cut of almost 1 percent in programs included in a $146 billion spending bill covering health, education and labor programs.

Gregg's amendment needed only a majority of 51 votes because it did not increase spending. Opponents argued that even a 1 percent cut could be harmful to programs already squeezed by tight budgets.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said education grants for low-income children would be cut by $118 million, affecting 37,000 kids, and Head Start would lose $63 million.