So yesterday I wrote about how the Senate was making the bailout plan bigger but not better in order to get reluctant legislators aboard.

Oh man, you have no idea. It makes me want to cry.

According to the WSJ, A bill that was originally 3 pages is now more than 400 pages. Among the useless 'sweeteners' tacked onto the plan:

• Economic development credit to American Samoan businesses
• 50% tax credit for some expenditures on maintaining railroad tracks
• 7-year recovery period for motorsports racetrack property
• Special expensing rules for film and TV productions
• Income averaging for Exxon Valdez litigants for tax purposes
• $10,000 tax credit for training of mine rescue team members
• Deduction for income from domestic production in Puerto Rico
• Increasing cover of rum excise tax revenues to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

AND MY FAVORITE ...

• Exempting children's wooden arrows from excise tax

YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!

McCain says all the time that if he becomes President, we will know the names of the politicans who try to push their own pet earmarks. It's one of the things he says that resonates with me.

I know people say this is the way Washington works. It's how laws get passed. Give and take. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Gotta please the constituents ... That's bullshit.

It takes a lot for me to get outraged at something our government does. I'm as cynical as they come. But how dare these politicians use this moment, this time, with the economy on the edge of collapse and the financial fate of millions of Americans on the line, to muddy up an already outrageously expensive plan with such useless additions.

Let's get something straight: These changes do not make the plan better. And they weren't needed to get this deal passed. Politicians who voted against the bill were already worried that their 'No' vote pushed a teetering economy over the edge, and many of them were looking for a second chance to make amends. A couple of small, but relevant, changes to the plan would have provided all the cover they needed.

All this additional pork is a travesty of the legislative process. And if the candidates really mean it when they spout the word Change like it's some kind of magical Buddhist mantra, it's the kind of crap they'll try to put a stop to when they get elected.