Free Republic

VENICE, Italy — President Reagan, who less than two years ago signed the most expensive farm aid bill in history, called Friday for the elimination of agricultural subsidies worldwide by the year 2000 as a way of promoting better world economic health.At the same time, Reagan said that the United States has made "real progress" in trimming its budget deficit, despite ongoing spending battles with Congress, thereby freeing for private investment abroad some of the foreign capital that has been tied up financing the U.S. debt.Reagan's remarks, made in a speech televised by Worldnet and provided to networks around the...

DES MOINES, Iowa — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is telling Iowa Republicans and agribusiness leaders that he opposes the federal standard for renewable production, including ethanol.At a forum focused on agricultural issues on Saturday, Cruz likened the federal renewable fuel standard to "corporate welfare."Cruz tells the audience of roughly 1,000 that he has "every bit of faith that businesses can continue to compete, continue to do well without going on bended knee to the government."

Des Moines—Only weeks after taking this key state in the presidential race by surprise, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker defended his front-runner status in Iowa by pledging to support a federal ethanol mandate, shifting his position on renewable fuels at a Republican roundup on farm issues.The GOP governor and a lineup of other major potential presidential contenders—including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush—took the stage before hundreds of spectators and media at the Iowa Ag Summit at the state fairgrounds here.In the moderated discussion with ethanol magnate Bruce Rastetter, Walker dropped his previous flat opposition to ethanol mandates, offering a new stance...

A dozen potential Republican presidential candidates are about to sit down, one by one, with the biggest GOP donor in Iowa — a multimillionaire few people outside the state have ever heard of. Bruce Rastetter, an agribusiness mogul who’s made a fortune in pork, ethanol and farm real estate, has long worked behind the scenes to help bankroll conservatives across the country, but Saturday is a public coming out party of sorts for Rastetter as he hosts the first Iowa Agriculture Summit. It’s an event designed to promote farm policy in a state where pigs outnumber voters 10 to 1,...

Can someone explain why the “party of limited government” continues, with a straight face, to support ethanol? Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa says about the heavily subsided product, “Everything about ethanol is good, good, good.” Really? Really? Really? Supporters of ethanol — which we make from corn — say it reduces our dependence on foreign oil, is cheaper and aids the environment because it burns cleaner than non-blended fossil fuels. In 1996, The New York Times wrote: “At a time when Congress has been overhauling the nation’s systems of agricultural subsidies, and public officials across the country have considered...

Can someone explain why the "party of limited government" continues, with a straight face, to support ethanol? Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa says about the heavily subsided product, "Everything about ethanol is good, good, good." Really? Really? Really? Supporters of ethanol -- which we make from corn -- say it reduces our dependence on foreign oil, is cheaper and aids the environment because it burns cleaner than non-blended fossil fuels. In 1996, The New York Times wrote: "At a time when Congress has been overhauling the nation's systems of agricultural subsidies, and public officials across the country have considered...

DES MOINES — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz risked the ire of Iowa farmers by staking out free-market positions on two federal policies favored by agribusiness at a summit Saturday. The two likely Republican presidential candidates opposed an ethanol requirement favored by corn farmers as well as a wind tax credit in a state where more than a quarter of electricity is generated by wind. They were speaking at the Iowa Ag Summit, which was organized by the state’s largest Republican donor, Bruce Rastetter, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. Most of the...

Gannett newspaper, link only: Ted Cruz to attend influential Iowa bash on Saturday