I listened to that section of Trump’s speech a couple of times - and NOWHERE does he make commentary - one way or the other - about “subsidies.” He only stated that he supports ethanol and other forms of renewable energy.
That could be read as with or without the present subsidies. Being that ethanol has received such since 1979, and that it is now a mature business, I would argue that those subsidies will likely come to an end - particularly for reason of the higher costs they impose on the middle class.
However, the only way to know for certain is to ask Trump the direct question of whether he supports those subsidies - otherwise all of this effort by the anti-Trump crowd is nothing but speculation.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/in-iowa-donald-trump-hits-ted-cruz-on-ethanol-and-religion/
Dec 11, 2015
DES MOINES — On the state fairgrounds at a campaign event, Donald Trump wasted little time before he went after Ted Cruz’s stance on ethanol.
“He’s for the oil but I understand it oil pays him a lot of money, he’s got to be for oil right,” Trump said. And later in the night Trump expanded on the comment.
“Well look he’s from Texas — to the best of my knowledge, there’s a lot of oil in Texas, right? So, he gets a lot of money from the oil companies, and he’s against ethanol and everything you’re else talking about. And I’m not I’m totally in favor. And you know it’s a big industry here, it’s a big industry. You know if that industry is upset Iowa’s got problems,” Trump said to the crowd of about 1,500, composed of Iowans from special interest groups.
Trump also claimed he is evangelical and Christian, and while talking about Cruz and his religion, also brought up his ethnicity.
“Not a lot of evangelicals come out of Cuba in all fairness it’s true. Not a lot come out, but I like him nevertheless,” Trump said.
Cruz’s father is Cuban, but he was born in Canada........
No, they won't end unless a president takes the lead and fights to end them. BTW, these plants cannot maintain themselves or be built without government aid and constant support.
Besides the overt subsidies there is a mandate that has the same effect as a a subsidy, and Trump has said he doesn’t want to remove that.
Oil companies produce gas and oil independent of subsidies, and make a profit. Ethanol is dependent on subsidies to exist at all because it is a coerced "industry" via government regulation.
If Trump "supports" ethanol, he necessarily supports subsidies.
What does that statement mean in Iowa?
It's obvious. He's either in favor of price supports or he phrased his statement to imply that he is.
Trump has been inconsistently conservative in the past and is inconsistently conservative in the present.
Worse still, Trump has a record of adapting his positions to serve his own self interest.
Trump donated a lot of money to Democrats "so he could do business" in NYC. Now he is supporting ethanol subsidies in Iowa on the verge of the Iowa caucuses.
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>> “He only stated that he supports ethanol and other forms of renewable energy.” <<
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Calling Ethanol a renewable source of energy is an incredible stretch at best.
It takes more energy to produce Ethanol than can be obtained by burning it. So, even if the energy used to produce it were itself 100% renewable (which it clearly is not) the assertion is a farce.
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