Looks like politics as usual with Obama trying to get his jobless aid into the tax cut bill.
Just like an earmark.
I think that we will never truly reform the way this country is governed until we get rid of the process of having multiple unrelated items connected into one bill.
One alternative could be the line-item veto. However, this is seen as giving too much power to the President. I have to agree that it is the line-item veto is the wrong solution. The right solution is “one bill = one item.” There is a succinct name for this principal, but I don’t remember what it is at the moment.