Thursday, January 5, 2012

Ethanol Subsidies: Not Gone, Just Hidden a Little Better

They can't even reform without it being a fraud:

A few years ago I called subsidies for corn ethanol "catastrophically idiotic." And why not? Corn ethanol, it turns out is actively worse for the environment than even gasoline, farmers responded to the subsidies by reducing the amount of farmland used for food production, and this drove up the price of staple food worldwide. What's more, back when the subsidies were enacted corn farmers were already doing pretty well. We were shoveling $10 billion in ag welfare to a group of people who were already pretty rich.

In fact, ethanol subsidies are such obviously appalling policy that it's one of the rare areas that both liberals and conservatives agree about. In theory, anyway. But that's never mattered. After all, lots of corn is grown in Iowa, and every four years Iowa holds the first presidential caucuses in the nation. And that has long made ethanol subsidies everyone's favorite pander.
Full article from Mother Jones


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Jon Stewart makes fun of the GOP primary process:

GOP Candidates on Cash Hunt as Romney Towers in Fundraising

The establishment is for Romney. Thats why he will win the nomination:

 As they try to derail Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, his challengers face an urgent task: raising enough cash to compete.

The campaign for the GOP nomination is moving into states that are more dependent on TV advertising, and nobody has yet been able to match the former Massachusetts governor's financial operation.

[...]But with just five days to go before the New Hampshire primary, it's unclear how Santorum, Gingrich and Perry can compete financially with Romney in New England and beyond.

An Associated Press review of federal campaign-finance data reveals a stark contrast between Romney and most of the GOP's remaining candidates. Romney has a national donor network that's raised more than $32 million during the first nine months of 2011, the most recent data available.

[...]To date, Romney has drawn more than $32 million in individual contributions. Gingrich took in just under $3 million since early 2011, Santorum just over $1 million.
Full article

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