Learn English – Biden Got Out ‘Over His Skis,’ Says Obama

Here is a Google Ngram graph comparing incidences of the phrases “no detail too small”, “no detail is too small”, “no job too small”, “no job is too small” since 1840. It appears that the original phrase is in fact “no detail too small”, with incidences appearing as early as 1841.

As you can see from the graph, the phrase had a peak usage in the early part of the 20th century, depending on the exact formulation, but dropped in favor dramatically until about 1980, since when it has steadily been increasing in usage.

Tossing a bone to someone is usually done out of pity or by someone with significantly more power over the situation. The imagery is akin to feeding someone table scraps. It isn't usually done as a reward, per se, although begging for a bone or trying to convince the powers that be that you deserve it is common.

I do agree that it is usually a token amount or something small for the person doing the tossing. It can be considered a big deal for the person on the receiving end; the main gist is that there is a disparity in control.

Throw and toss are interchangeable in the idiom. It is very popular and usually invokes imagery of dogs — thus the watchdog pun in the NYT article. In this particular case, the author wishes to compare the situations of the Watchdog and Wall Street. Even though both are in dire times, one is being fed and the other starved. A bone isn't much but it is better than nothing.