Posted on 12/11/2015 7:51:39 AM PST by Isara
One of the ethanol lobby's attacks on Ted Cruz in Iowa was so personal and vicious, that even ethanol-mandate champions like Steve King are attacking the group that ran it.
Why is the ethanol lobby going all out on Cruz? Because Cruz could definitely win Iowa. Think about that: Cruz is the firmest opponent of the industry's favorite subsidy - the Renewable Fuel Standard, or ethanol mandate - and he could carry the industry's heartland, Iowa.
Politicians have historically shed their concern for free enterprise and the environment to pander to the ethanol lobby in order to win Iowa. If Cruz wins while being the No. 1 enemy of the ethanol mandate, he could show that the ethanol industry is a paper tiger.
Liz Mair, a noted critic of Iowa's ethanol industry, includes a discussion of this amongst other issues in her latest piece.
Definitely bad for the lobby but not bad for anyone else.
Even in Iowa they can’t pass an ethanol mandate.
There is nothing so near to having eternal life as a government subsidy.
In that it would prove you CAN win Iowa without sucking up to the ethanol lobby, yes. In that Congress would automatically change its mind on ethanol: not so much.
The subsidy actually ended a couple years ago. The mandate remains but was required volume was recently lowered from the original law.
On every level, except for ADM, ethanol is an unmitigated disaster. It does nothing of what it was intended to do other than to line the pockets of Iowa corn growers with taxpayer money.
Ethanol—the scam that got traction long ago, and that now needs to be capped.
“There is nothing so near to having eternal life as a government subsidy.”..........
Very true but unfortunately many small communities and towns, who happen to have an ethanol plant in their district rely heavily on the jobs and taxes paid by said operations. I happen to live in one of those towns. Being a economically depressed area, the local ethanol plant has and continues to provide jobs for several local area residents. Although I would like to see the local plant “stay alive”, it would not be the worst thing to happen since our local farmers are major potato producers. So what does potato’s have to do with ethanol? Well, nothing EXCEPT the current ETHANOL plant could be converted to a VODKA producing facility and we all know what the base ingredient of vodka is.....potato’s. A WIN/WIN should ethanol subsidies be eliminated. I would expect to hear more “crying” when potato producers gain the subsidies. :)
I am going to go back in all my emails and find the Freeper who 7 years ago tried to defend ethanol because the byproduct made good cheap pork feed.
I will find it and hold their toes to the fire.
It does make good feed from the sources I just looked at. They export a lot of it too.
I hope that Cruz wins Iowa for this reason alone. It shows that business as usual for the entrenched interests can be overcome. The entrenched interests include lobbyists and those reaping the benefits of big government largess in Washington.
It would be a small but mighty blow to the structure that dominates the politics of special interests — which is all politics.
Campaigning against RFS in Iowa, and winning, would be a greater victory than the delegates acquired. A Trump victory would certainly send shivers up the collective spines of the GOPe as a populist candidate they cannot control moves a step closer towards the nomination. A Cruz victory would also do that but it would also send shock waves through the all entrenched interests.
People in Washington are very afraid this year. They are losing control and they do not like it one little bit. Both the GOPe and K Street have been put on notice. Cruz has refused to meet with King Corn or tour an ethanol plant this year. They are attacking him but he is doing very well in Iowa, nonetheless. Ignoring King Corn in Iowa and winning anyway... a conservative’s dream come true.
Karl,
I looked at your profile.
I am a loss for words.
In other words, ethanol corn byproducts make good animal feed.
True. Ethanol in gasoline has killed more small engines than cash for clunkers.
I maintain that burning food for fuel is never a good idea.
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