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Save the banks? Yes -- and Oregon arrow makers too

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In the now 451-page financial-system bailout bill moving through the Senate, you know there had to be some ridiculous pork-barrel gifts to special interests.

Just how ridiculous? From Bloomberg News:

Rose City Archery Inc., an Oregon company that makes arrows used by children, hit a bull’s-eye with Senate legislation that would rescue Wall Street banks. Senators attached a provision repealing a 39-cent excise tax on wooden and fiberglass arrows designed for children to an historic $700-billion bank rescue that is likely to pass tonight. The provision, originally proposed by Oregon senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith, will save manufacturers such as Rose City Archery in Myrtle Point, Ore., about $200,000 a year. It’s one of dozens of tax breaks benefiting Hollywood producers, stock-car racetrack owners and Virgin Islands rum makers included in the broader legislation in an effort to win support from House Republicans, whose defection contributed to a rejection of an earlier version of the legislation two days ago on a 228-205 vote. ‘This is how Washington works,’’ said Keith Ashdown, chief investigator at Taxpayers for Common Sense. ‘A big pot of pork is their recipe for final passage.’’

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Read the full Bloomberg story here. And if you have a lot of time on your hands today, read the full version of the Senate bill here.

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