The topic of earmarks has come up a lot in this presidential campaign.  As we know, federal bills often end up, as John McCain might say, "festooned with Christmas tree ornaments" that have tenuous (if any) relationships to the heart of the bill.  It turns out the recent $700 billion bailout plan -- officially known as the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 -- was no different.  All kinds of stuff, we're learning, was snuck in to that thing at the last minute. 

One earmark in particular has received a lot of attention from some of the blogs and news sources I frequent -- Rep. Earl Blumenauer's (D-OR) Bike Commuter Act, as part of the larger Renewable Energy Tax Credit legislation (which was extended for one more year).  What does the Bike Commuter Act do?  The San Francisco Chronicle summarized it nicely:

"...workers who use two-wheelers as their primary transportation mode to get to and from work will be eligible for a $20-a-month, tax-free reimbursement from their employers for bicycle-related expenses. In return, employers will be able to deduct the expense from their federal taxes."  

Sounds pretty good, right? 

Rep. Blumenauer is a former City Commissioner of Transportation in Portland and long time biking advocate (heck, he's even wearing a bicycle lapel pin in the banner of his website) who's generally lauded by anti-sprawl, pro-transit, clean energy types like myself.  But attempting to look at this objectively, it could spark a potentially interesting debate: What does the Bike Commuter Act really have to do with the credit crisis?  Aren't we always told that tangental earmarks are...bad?  The Renewable Energy Tax Credit seems to have given "a small jolt" to at least the solar industry, perhaps justifying its general inclusion in a financial bailout package.  But paying people to bike?  Honestly, I'm not sure I see the connection.

It all just goes to show one way that policy proposals can, and often do, become enacted at the federal level.  Whether or not you agree with the system largely depends on if the earmarks reflect your passions, which is no guarantee.  I happen to think the Bike Commuter Act is quite good.  It's just disappointing that it was apparently sufficiently unpopular to have had to be pushed through ornamentally.