The Senate had a chance to make a real difference yesterday but fell far short. They could have turned off the tap to ethanol subsidies and saved a huge chunk of money (which needs to happen) while benefitting the economy and the consumer.
Instead, the Senators from both parties in states like Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, and South Dakota voted to retain the subsidies. Talk about your special interests!
Ethanol producers are paid 45 cents a gallon, and smaller producers get a 10 premium on top of that. It is supposed to be reducing our dependence on foreign oil, but that's only window dressing. Drilling and refining more domestic oil would do that.
Ethanol takes corn out of the food supply, allows people to get paid tax dollars to produce it, reduces gas mileage up to 20%, and destroys small engines like lawnmowers, chainsaws, and snowmobiles.
The vote was not close. Only 40 voted in favor of stopping the frivolous spending. Sixty votes were required.
The Senate gave us two very key messages today - they aren't serious about reducing spending, and they aren't serious about energy independence.
Now we need to give them one. There are 33 Senators up for election next fall, with some already announcing their intention to retire. All of the others need to be replaced unless they were part of the 40 voting against the subsidy.
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