Dang! -- I'd wish you'd have told me that before I posted my comment and made myself look foolish. Aw well, at least I'm lucky enough to run into a smart guy like you who can bring me up to speed.. Let's see --this is what I've got:
| 1. | . | Ethanol subsidy is reported at somewhere between $50 million and $100 million per year depending on who you believe. |
| 2. | This years increase in the federal budget request for the Marines had to be limited to just $800 million. The additional funding made funding available for "a new Marine Corps Special Operations component to conduct special reconnaissance and other missions; establishes a SOF Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron". This will save the lives of many Marines. | |
| 3. | If the budget for this component had been increased by ten percent then fewer marines would have died. | |
| 4. | Instead, the money has to go to farmers to make fuel that I nobody wants to buy unless the IRS forces them to. |
What am I missing?
You're missing that there is no federal subsidy to farmers involving ethanol. In fact, the market for ethanol actually reduces subsidies to farmers (or in many cases landowners who don't farm). Farm subsidies tend to take the form of price supports; anything which raises the price of corn reduces the support payments.