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I think the Hill staffer still seems to miss the point. The provision is necessary, it may even be uncontroversial, and it probably is a mistake that needs to be corrected. But putting provisions about wooden arrow excise taxes in this particular bill highlights everything people hate about Congress. The rescue package needs to pass (according to many) and is an absolute emergency. Wooden arrows, if the relief is so necessary and clear-cut, can (and should) wait until another day and fly through Congress. When avergae people see stuff like this excise tax provision tacked onto monumentally must-pass legislation they think that something’s amiss: “Why do they need to sneak it into an emergency bill if it’s something so necessary and universally supported. Why can’t they just pass a separate bill when we get done with addressing the crisis? Must be more to this provision then their telling us and it really isn’t something us average Joes would want.” If the tax provisions that were added were items that directly addressed the financial sector and were being included as additional mechanisms to help the markets get out of the mess they’re in, that would be one thing. But things that seemingly have zero relationship to either the underlying causes of the current crisis or the publicly-reported mechanisms by which Congress and the Treasury are proposing to address it make the whole thing look shady. Pass the tax provisions independently and on their own merits (if they in fact have independent merit) – don’t sneak them into something that most members can’t say no to. So it’s not the provision that is the problem – it’s the whole process that is the problem.