There are a fair number of stories posted on Slashdot about the introduction of bills in the U.S. Congress promising to create some new agency or fund some new project of great nerdly interest. I hope this little journal entry will help sort the wheat from the chaff for readers who want to know how seriously to take such bills. I don't expect that this article will help anyone analyze the actual policy content of such legislation; on the other hand, it's worth asking whether such an analysis i