Posted on 03/07/2015 7:42:55 AM PST by bestintxas
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 huge cuts in benefits to big corporations, ethanol has been untouched. Largely through the efforts of (then soon-to-be 1996 GOP presidential nominee Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas), it has remained one of the most subsidized American industries.”
Dole’s office said, “As a national leader on agriculture policy, Sen. Dole is a longtime supporter of this clean-burning all-American renewable fuel to promote new markets for American grain, jobs for our nation’s farm belt and energy self-sufficiency.” The statement noted that Kansas contained 13,500 corn farms and four ethanol plants.
That was nearly 20 years ago. The rip-off continues.
(Excerpt) Read more at humanevents.com ...
It forces us taxpayers to spend out money to support a very small group of well-connected individuals.
It is truly a liberal cause.
It is another instance of crony capitalism and the corrupting power of lobbying.
See? ... You're not thinking correctly ... ethanol kills engines.
No it doesn't. But it sure destroys gasoline.
Can anyone explain with a straight face why the GOP is referred to as the “party of limited government”?
I mean, come on...
Ethanol is terrible to small outboard motors. In Virginia, there is ethanol free gas at marinas, but not in Maryland. Engines just won’t start or run after a couple of tanks of 10 percent ethanol. You have to add Gumout to the gas to have a chance.
Ethanol from corn in gasoline is the Crack Cocaine for Iowans.
They claim it does no harm but they damn sure don’t want to live without it.
“Can anyone explain with a straight face why the GOP is referred to as the “party of limited government”?”
because Speaker Boehner says so. http://www.speaker.gov/about
“Today, Speaker Boehner is focused on removing government barriers to private-sector job creation and economic growth, cutting government spending, reforming Congress, and rebuilding the bonds of trust between the American people and their representatives in Washington. “
C’mon Larry, you know as well as I do that the GOP abandoned any notion of being the “party of limited government” decades ago. I think they’re called the “sloppy seconds” party now.
The real question is how the renewable fuels mandate can be made a significant campaign issue, and not just a go-to subject for conservative writers.
Don’t leave home without it ;’)
I’ll burn the adulterated crap if I have to but I try to plan trips in my old (1937) truck around patronizing ethanol-free gas stations.
More proof to repeal the 17th amendment. ...till then we will suffer under the uniparty
Both parties are owned by the Chamber of Cronies
The real question is why is there a mandate?
Ethanol lobby.
The mandate came from the Arab oil embargoes of the 1970s. It was a very real national security issue at the time.
It blossomed from researchers to producers in the 1994, then became irrevocable in 2005 even as evidence of its pointlessness was mounting.
Ironically, there are a LOT of service stations in IA that do NOT blend gasoline: Their farm equipment wouldn’t last very long...(yes, some farm equipment does not run on kerosene)
There is something immoral and depraved in making fuel out of something that was meant to be used as food, when we are sitting on an ocean of crude oil, which serves as a much more efficient source of gasoline production.
We believe that our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles and the prayer “Give us this day our daily bread...” comes to mind. I don’t think that corn was ever meant to be put in a fuel tank but to be used to feed man and beast.
Perhaps I’m too sensitive, but it almost smells of blasphemy.
Corn used for ethanol has come from added acres. Acres devoted to corn had been dropping for decades until the ethanol boom. Corn price is around cost of production. Ethanol production also subsidizes pork, poultry and eggs, and that will make it even harder to get rid of.
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