The National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research is having a meeting on Friday this coming week. But the meeting is closed to the public.

The grant applications and the discussions could disclose confidential trade secrets or commercial property such as patentable material, and personal information concerning individuals associated with the grant applications, the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

Grant applicants are using government funds to work on advancing their business interests, so we don’t get to know about it? And on top of that, we don’t get to know who they are?

This looks like a bunch of bunk. The meeting notice is even being published less than the 15 days prior to the meeting as required “due to the timing limitations imposed by the review and funding cycle.” Uh-huh.

But nobody pays much attention to the National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research, and so they get to do stuff like this. In the dark corners of the government stuff like this goes on all the time. It’s your money. You’re paying for it.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is the term given to a number of different disorders with a common genetic cause. They manifest themselves in weakness due to loss of the motor neurons of the spinal cord and brain stem.

Infantile SMA is the most severe form, and it’s symptoms include muscle weakness, poor muscle tone, weak cry, limpness or a tendency to flop, difficulty sucking or swallowing, and other problems. (Got all this info from Wikipedia.)

But enough of the clinical stuff: It’s just devastating to parents.

And they’re expressing their feelings on two bills here: H.R. 3334 is the SMA Treatment Acceleration Act, and S. 2042 is its Senate counterpart. The bills would require the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services to take various steps to coordinate programs and research trials aimed at finding treatments and cures.

They’re also telling their stories on Web sites dedicated to the young victims. Gwendolyn Strong has a Web site. And there’s also one dedicated to the memory of little Owen Shuler, who passed away in August. These children are loved.

Will these bills hasten a cure for SMA? One can’t predict easily how or how much they would help. It’s also hard to know whether this disease deserves more focus than others. But the families need outlets for their anguish, and we can all feel for them and wish them well.

The Senate passed bailout legislation this evening by a vote of 74 to 25. Senators McCain and Obama both voted for it, as did Senator Biden. National Journal has a good story on the wheeling, dealing, and lobbying that pushed the Senate in favor.

It’s unclear whether the goodies added to the bill “sweeten” it in a way that will get it through the House, or if the backscratching represented by the bill coming out of the Senate will give more offense to the public and House members who opposed the bailout.

Without specific information about what is in the package passed in the Senate, it is impossible to estimate the cost of the overall bill. But it is large.

Below is the vote in the Senate. If you don’t know which Senators are yours, find the name of a U.S. state on the front of an envelope that has been delivered to your house, then find that state below . . . .

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Silly season on Capitol Hill. It’s that special time of year when Congress nears the end of its scheduled session and decides to do all its work at once. Dozens of bills fly across the House floor with little debate.

They’re not all bad bills, but nothing prevented Congress from addressing them at a careful pace all through the winter, spring, and summer.

This year has been particularly silly, as Congress didn’t even try to follow its annual budgeting and spending process. It just passed a temporary measure on the fly, funding the government through the first half of the fiscal year in one big bill.

Then along came the financial services crisis. (Or is it a “crisis”? I’m less and less sure that it’s a crisis for anyone more than the investment bankers who overextended themselves.)

Smack dab at the end of the session, right when members want to go home and campaign, they have to think about a $700 bailout of the financial services industry. (Text of the proposal that failed Monday is here.)

Congress comes back Thursday - maybe to consider another bailout proposal. Don’t lose focus on that issue just yet!

But for the moment, let’s take a look at some of what the Congress did while we focused on everything else that Congress was doing. These are the bills that went to the floor of the House of Representatives on Saturday. The bills that were on the House floor last Thursday and Friday are here and here. Monday’s bills coming soon:
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While a financial bailout proposal is debated among congressional leaders, silly season continues. The House has been passing bills hand over fist. Here are the bills that went to the floor on Friday, including a bill to spend more than $500 per U.S. family. Up later today, the bills that raced through the House Saturday . . .

S. 2982
The Runaway and Homeless Youth Protection Act
Costs $6.64 per family

H.R. 7112
To impose sanctions with respect to Iran, to provide for the divestment of assets in Iran by State and local governments and other entities, and to identify locations of concern with respect to transshipment, reexportation, or diversion of certain sensitive items to Iran

H.R. 7081
To approve the United States-India Agreement for Cooperation on Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, and for other purposes

H.R. 7110
Making supplemental appropriations for job creation and preservation, infrastructure investment, and economic and energy assistance for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009, and for other purposes
Costs $547.01 per family

S. 1046
The Senior Professional Performance Act of 2007
Costs $0.05 per family

H.R. 4120
The Effective Child Pornography Prosecution Act of 2007

S. 2932
The Poison Center Support, Enhancement, and Awareness Act of 2008

S. 1382
The ALS Registry Act
Costs $0.62 per family

H.R. 7060
The Renewable Energy and Job Creation Tax Act of 2008

H.R. 3068
The Federal Protective Service Guard Contracting Reform Act of 2007
Costs: $0.00 per family

H.R. 6045
The Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 2008

Congress has all the planning skills and foresight of a teenager.

Y’know how when mom and dad are coming back from their weekend away, the kid tries to do all the chores for the weekend in the last hour? That’s Congress.

So as we wrap up the current Session, Congress is racing to do all the things it should have done all year long. Members are throwing every pet project they’ve got at the leadership, hoping to get it through before the Congress ends.

Sure, we’ve got spending decisions for fiscal year 2009, and this financial services bailout, but let’s try to get through dozens of other bills at the same time.

Here’s a look at all the bills that were on the House floor just yesterday. Lots of them are simple and straightforward, but nothing kept Congress from addressing them all through the year.

Congress waited until the last minute and most assuredly isn’t showing these bills, or the really big issues before it, the care it should. We citizens haven’t gotten much of a chance to look them over either.

H.R. 3018
The Family Self-Sufficiency Act of 2007

H.R. 3402
The Calling Card Consumer Protection Act

H.R. 3232
The Travel Promotion Act of 2007

H.R. 6950
The Stephanie Tubbs Jones Gift of Life Medal Act of 2008

H.R. 1014
The Heart Disease Education, Analysis Research, and Treatment for Women Act

H.R. 6946
To make a technical correction in the NET 911 Improvement Act of 2008

H.R. 1343
The Health Centers Renewal Act of 2007
Costs $102.88 per family

S. 2932
The Poison Center Support, Enhancement, and Awareness Act of 2008

S. 1810
The Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act
Costs $0.17 per family

S. 1382
The ALS Registry Act
Costs $0.62 per family

H.R. 6568
The Tom Lantos Pulmonary Hypertension Research and Education Act of 2008

H.R. 6901
The Meth Free Families and Communities Act

H.R. 6469
The Organ Transplant Authorization Act of 2008

H.R. 1157
The Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act of 2007

H.R. 758
The Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2007
Costs $0.00 per family

H.R. 4544
The Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2007

H.R. 4120
The Effective Child Pornography Prosecution Act of 2007

H.R. 6045
The Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 2008

S. 1046
The Senior Professional Performance Act of 2007
Costs $0.05 per family

S. 928
The Homeowners Protection Act of 2007

HealthCare.com is a health provider search service. To promote their service - and as a public service - they have produced a pretty good analysis of the two presidential candidates’ health care plans.

It has a nicely done side-by-side summary comparison of what the two candidates have put out there on health care. You can also watch videos of the two candidates speaking on the topic and go through a short questionnaire to help you figure out your preferences. At the end of the process, you can vote!

I particularly like the “Yeah, but” section, going back to poke holes in the candidates’ statements, which tend to be “broad, crowd-pleasing, grandiose policy statements” rather than hard-headed plans.

We’ve taken a look at the recent legislating done by Senators Obama and McCain (Biden too), and, frankly, none of them have done much in the health care area. Take a look at all the different health-care-related legislation in the current Congress here. And the secret answer - you heard it here first! - is that health care isn’t even something the federal government should be involved in!

All in all, HealthCare.com has done a creditable job of getting information about the candidates health plans out there to the public.

If you were to make a donation toward getting health care to people in need, where would you send your money? Toppenish, Washington? Perhaps Swainsboro, Georgia?

Well, you have made a donation toward getting health care to people in need, and it was sent to Toppenish and Swainsboro, as well as a couple dozen other cities, like Anaheim, California; Craig, Colorado; Hartford, Connecticut; Trenton, Florida; and Newton Grove, North Carolina.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced $22 million in grants on Friday. The money will go to health centers in 39 cities around the country.

Now let’s talk about your thank-you note.

I’m sorry to say that your thank-you note is probably not going to reach you. It’s being delivered to a woman named Elizabeth Duke.

Duke is the Administrator of HRSA. She and her agency spend about $7 billion per year on health care through various grants to state and local governments, health centers, and education programs. It’s your money, of course. You’re paying for it.

Now, Elizabeth Duke looks like a nice lady. It’s not like you should be mad at her for being so generous with your money. Maybe you don’t need any thanks - big of you! But maybe you’d rather focus your giving on other issues. Or maybe you’d rather give to an organization that you know and trust, rather than Ms. Duke doing your giving for you. All things to think about.

HRSA is funded in the Labor/HHS appropriations bill. The Senate bill is S. 3230. Its passage would cost the average U.S. family a little over $6,100.

Here’s the current vote on the bill. Click to vote, comment, learn more, or edit the wiki article about the bill.

The Congressional Budget Office came out with a cost estimate today for S. 3297, the Advancing America’s Priorities Act, which has also been called the “Coburn Omnibus.” It combines 36 pieces of federal legislation into one.

Yesterday, adding up all the pieces of the Coburn Omnibus, we came up with about $65 per U.S. family. When we crunch the CBO estimate into its per-family cost, we get just over $70.00.

If you’re curious, more on our methodology is here.

What do people think of all this? Here’s the current vote on S. 3297. As always, you can click to vote, comment, learn more, or edit the wiki article about the bill.

Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma didn’t come to Washington, D.C. to grow the government.

A long time critic of federal spending and power, he has made prolific use of “holds” to prevent legislation he doesn’t like from moving forward.

Now Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has reached his wit’s end. He has cobbled together into one bill a long list of measures that Coburn has been working to slow or stop. He’s hoping to roll over Senator Coburn and move them all forward. The bill is S. 3297, the Advancing America’s Priorities Act. But the nickname it has gotten is the “Coburn Omnibus.”

Majority Leader Reid is expected to try to bring the bill to the Senate floor later this week.

We have done our best to figure out which bills have been rolled into the Coburn Omnibus, using a copy of the bill he posted on his Web site. Thirty-six bills are listed below. The last would authorize the construction of a greenhouse in Suitland, Maryland.

Coburn has reportedly said the bills in the Coburn Omnibus would create 77 new federal programs. By our count, passage of the Coburn Omnibus would spend just under $65 per U.S. family, though six of the bills do not have cost estimates.

[UPDATE: Staff for Senator Coburn have noted to me that they count 35 programs the bill would create. The 77 number reported on FoxNews.com is the number of total programs Coburn has been holding up. Our count of 36 comes from treating an ocean exploration bill and an ocean mapping bill as separate.]

HEALTHCARE PROVISIONS

• S. 1382, the ALS Registry Act - $0.62
• S. 1183, the Christoper and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act - $0.85
• S. 999, the Stroke Treatment and Ongoing Prevention Act
• H.R. 20, the Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act - $0.16
• S. 1117, the Vision Care for Kids Act of 2008
• S. 1810, the Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act - $0.17

JUDICIARY PROVISIONS

• H.R. 5524, the Reconnecting Homeless Youth Act of 2008
• S. 535, the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act of 2007 - $0.58
• S. 2304, the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act of 2008 - $4.34
• H.R. 4120, the Effective Child Pornography Prosecution Act of 2007
• H.R. 4136, the Enhancing the Effective Prosecution of Child Pornography Act of 2007
• S. 1210, the Drug Endangered Children Act of 2007 - $0.18
• S. 1079, the Star-Spangled Banner and War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission Act - $0.03
• S. 1738, the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008 (Combating Child Exploitation Act of 2007) - $4.93

ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS PROVSIONS

• H.R. 2964, the Captive Primate Safety Act - $0.15
• S. 2707, the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network Continuing Authorization Act - $0.04
• S. 2844, the Beach Protection Act of 2008 - $2.56
• S. 496, the Appalachian Regional Development Act Amendments of 2008

FOREIGN RELATIONS PROVISIONS

• H.R. 1469, the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act of 2008 - $3.76
• H.R. 1084, the Reconstruction and Stabilization Civilian Management Act of 2008 - $5.75
• H.R. 2798, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation Reauthorization of Act of 2008 - $0.66
• S. 2020, the Tropical Forest and Coral Conservation Reauthorization Act of 2008 - $0.65
• H.R. 1678, the Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2008 - $0.93
• H.R. 3320, the Support for the Museum of the History of Polish Jews Act of 2008 - $0.05

COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION PROVISIONS

• S. 1492, the Broadband Data Improvement Act - $1.85
• S. 675, the Training for Realtime Writers Act of 2007 - $0.62
• H.R. 3352, the Hydrographic Services Improvement Act Amendments of 2008 - $5.92
• H.R. 1834, the NOAA Undersea Research Program Act of 2008 (National Ocean Exploration Program Act) - $2.36
• H.R. 2400, the Ocean and Coastal Mapping Integration Act - $1.03
• H.R. 5618, the National Sea Grant College Program Amendments Act of 2008 - $2.69
• S. 950, the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 2008 - $6.36
• H.R. 4174, the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2008 - $0.70

HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS PROVISIONS

• S. 1446, the National Capital Transportation Amendments Act of 2008 - $10.40
• H.R. 390, the Preservation of Records of Servitude, Emancipation, and Post-Civil War Reconstruction Act - $0.12
• S. 3175, the Predisaster Hazard Mitigation Act of 2008 - $6.18

RULES AND ADMINISTRATION PROVISIONS

• H.R. 5492, To authorize the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution to construct a greenhouse facility at its museum support facility in Suitland, Maryland, and for other purposes - $0.02