With so much attention focused on the energy bill, it’s easy to forget some of the other important legislation coming out of Congress these days. Revere at Effect Measure reports on the NIH and CDC funding figures in the latest version of the appropriations bill, and Jake Young at Pure Pedantry goes into detail about the implications of the paltry NIH spending increase. Meanwhile, Ken Cook at Mulch rounds up editorials on the disappointing Farm Bill.

Elsewhere:

Coturnix at A Blog Around the Clock has posted links to all 468 blog posts nominated for inclusion in the second Science Blogging Anthology.

April Harding and Mead Over at Global Health Policy respond to the LA Times article about the possibility that the huge influx of funds flowing to poor countries for battling individual diseases might be undermining other aspects of the countries’ health systems.

Chris Fleming at Health Affairs Blog warns that legislation requiring mental health parity in health insurance could have unintended consequences.

Cristina Page at RH Reality Check points out that some of the presidential candidates have avoided talking about contraception – possibly because several of them, unlike the vast majority of the U.S. population, oppose it.

Gristmill invites you to vote for the meanest and greenest people of 2007. “Meanest” nominees include Robert Murray and Stephen Johnson, while the “Greenest” list includes Al Gore and Barbara Boxer.

Jason Heilpern at Hazard’s Recognized finds that would-be restaurateurs too often overlook employee safety.

And in honor of the holidays, the Prescription Project brings us a carol about prescription data mining.