Strange Tax Credits

When we wanted to stoke the auto industry market, a tax credit became available for people purchasing a new car between February and December 2009.

When we wanted to stoke hiring employees, a tax credit became available to employers for hiring someone who was previously unemployed.

When we wanted to stoke home sales, a tax credit became available for people purchasing homes.

Tucked down inside the gigantic health care bill, there is now a tax credit of up to $13000 for foreign or domestic adoptions.  What exactly are we stoking with that?  Is adoption really an impulse item that we decide we have additional funds laying around and we can get a tax break for?