Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Congress does One Good Thing! (by default...)
Amid all the misfeasance, malfeasance and nonfeasance typical of the times, Congress has actually done one thing right!!!!!! Of course they didn't actually take real action to make it happen; they just allowed the subsidy to expire. But in this case, urgent action would have been normal, while inaction required some courage.
Jesus. 45 cents a gallon! No fucking wonder the subsidy worked!
The envirowackos are pleased by this move, which is another small sign of returning sanity. Until a couple years ago the Greenies were all for the subsidy, because they imagined it was Sequestering Evil Carbon or some such shit. For unknown reasons they decided to admit the truth about this.
Most of all, the poor people of the world will enjoy this move. Eventually, more corn will be available for its PROPER FUCKING USAGE. It will take a while for the ethanol production system to shut down, but it will certainly shut down with the welfare stopped.
The timing of this move is most amazing of all. Just before the Iowa Caucuses, which were the sole reason for the long-running push for corn alcohol. In the '30s it was Agrol, in the '70s it was Gasohol, and more recently it's Ethanol; but under each name it's nothing more than an auction of tax money to influence the few thousand people who vote in the Caucuses.
= = = = =
Later: Nope, it was a fake as usual. One subsidy nominally went away, but it was just moved around, and the other subsidies and requirements remain.
The United States has ended a 30-year tax subsidy for corn-based ethanol that cost taxpayers $6 billion annually, and ended a tariff on imported Brazilian ethanol.
Congress adjourned for the year on Friday, failing to extend the tax break that's drawn a wide variety of critics on Capitol Hill, including Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Critics also have included environmentalists, frozen food producers, ranchers and others.
The policies have helped shift millions of tons of corn from feedlots, dinner tables and other products into gas tanks.
The subsidy has provided the oil and agribusiness industries with 45 cents per gallon of ethanol blended into gasoline. By some estimates, Congress has awarded $45 billion in subsidies to the ethanol industry since 1980.
Jesus. 45 cents a gallon! No fucking wonder the subsidy worked!
The envirowackos are pleased by this move, which is another small sign of returning sanity. Until a couple years ago the Greenies were all for the subsidy, because they imagined it was Sequestering Evil Carbon or some such shit. For unknown reasons they decided to admit the truth about this.
Most of all, the poor people of the world will enjoy this move. Eventually, more corn will be available for its PROPER FUCKING USAGE. It will take a while for the ethanol production system to shut down, but it will certainly shut down with the welfare stopped.
The timing of this move is most amazing of all. Just before the Iowa Caucuses, which were the sole reason for the long-running push for corn alcohol. In the '30s it was Agrol, in the '70s it was Gasohol, and more recently it's Ethanol; but under each name it's nothing more than an auction of tax money to influence the few thousand people who vote in the Caucuses.
= = = = =
Later: Nope, it was a fake as usual. One subsidy nominally went away, but it was just moved around, and the other subsidies and requirements remain.
Labels: Carbon Cult
¶ 5:46 PM
