The welfare-to-work program has been called – by both Democrats and Republicans – one of the most successful programs ever to come out of Washington, D.C. But efforts to extend it by another five years have bogged down in the U.S. Senate becaue of a Democratic filibuster over their desire to tie the extension to an increase in the minimum wage. Senator Jim Talent says the two are separate and welfare reform must be extended or we could see a lot of problems. The reform was signed into law by President Clinton in 1996 and has been extended several times since then. The current proposal would extend welfare-to-work for another five years.