"This proposal would exempt from the excise tax any shaft consisting of all natural wood with no laminations or artificial means to enhance the spine of the shaft used in the manufacture of an arrow that measures 5/16 of an inch or less and is unsuited for use with a bow with a peak draw weight of 30 pounds or more" - Sanjeev Singh

The estimated cost of the proposal is $6 million over 10 years. Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden, a Democrat, and Gordon Smith, a Republican, were the initial sponsors of the arrow provision. According to Bloomberg News, the earmark provision would be worth $200,000 a year to Rose City Archery in Myrtle Point, Oregon. - Sanjeev Singh

I can't believe they are adding stuff like this to the bailout package. Politics as usual. - Sanjeev Singh

Unbelievable - Bret Taylor

Ugh. This is just ... miserable. Any earmarks in this bill and it should fail. - AJ Kohn

Transportation fringe benefit to bicycle commuters: The measure would allow employers to provide benefits to employees who commute to work via bicycle, such as help purchasing and maintaining a bicycle. The measure would cost taxpayers $10 million. - Tudor Bosman

Why Why WHY??? They're making me nauseated with all the special interest crap! - Lindsay

Lindsay needs a chill pill. :) - iTad

business as usual. to find the best pork, look at bills that can't possibly fail. ones like adding another memorial to the mall. - Gregor J. Rothfuss

FriendFeeders - what am I supposed to do here? I don't like this pork at all. But, I am glad someone posted it here and I want others to see it. I still get uncomfortable with "like" being the operator. - Christopher Sacca

Christopher, your comment should be enough for this to show up under FoaF for your followers. - FFing Enigma

Chris, under "more", choose reshare. We group items together now so you won't pollute the feeds of people subscribed to both of us. - Sanjeev Singh

@Tina I guess what I am saying is that having two very different operations to promote content seems like unnecessary work for the user. If something is positive and worth seeing, I can "like" it. If something is negative but still worth seeing I should leave a comment. - Christopher Sacca

Tina, Chris: commenting/liking can be a little more hit and miss (e.g. if I had a private feed, someone subscribed to Chris but not me won't see it, etc.). Reshare guarantees the share, indepedent of your feelings about the item :) - Sanjeev Singh

@sanjeev I know what you are saying, but I am talking about the passive way in which things get promoted back to the top of the feed, as well as shared to FoaF. Instead of me actively dumping it into my feed, I like to signal it's importance in the existing feed by endorsing it with a "like." That makes it more likely others will see the item. But, often, I see people explicitly avoiding the "like" in order to leave a comment. However, in those threads, the comments often have much less substance. - Christopher Sacca

I guess I just see users being torn among the multiple interpretations of "like." Is it to indicate mood/reaction to the content? Or is it to indicate approval/value of the item being submitted? That is the quandary. - Christopher Sacca

Chris, I didn't realize people are commenting specifically to pop/foaf items! (Well, the ones they don't like, anyway). - Sanjeev Singh

@Tudor: Not sure what you were implying by excerpting the Cycling incentive, but to me, that's not pork...that's just smart public policy. The $10 million "cost" would be well worth it, if it results in a significant increase in bicycle commuting, what with the associated reduction in pollution, traffic congestion, and dependency on oil. And that's before considering benefits to public health and decreased health care expenditures. - Chester

@Chester: it's good stuff, but unrelated to the 700G$ economic bailout. - Tudor Bosman

@sanjeev Yeah. Definitely folks are doing that. In fact, some explicitly type "Don't like" even though they are endorsing the value of the shared piece, just reacting to the ugliness of the story on the other end of the link. - Christopher Sacca

@Tudor: unrelated, yes, but I just don't think it ought to be listed along with, say, youth archery supplies, as an example of porcine incentives. - Chester

Count me among the "Likes" who don't like. Man, has our government always been this dysfunctional, or is it getting worse? - Keith Pelczarski