The Washington Cornhuskers

A bipartisan group of 73 Senators votes to end both the ethanol tax credit and the tariff on imported ethanol. Maybe we can finally cut the federal deficit and stop putting food in our gas tanks. Apparently staring at the bottom of an economic abyss concentrates the mind wonderfully, as a, dare we say it, bipartisan group of 38 Democrats, 33 Republicans and both independents in the U.S. Senate voted to end the government boondoggle that subsidizes a wasteful but politically vested form of energy. We have noted that since Iowa is the first presidential contest it activates the pandering gene in most ambitious politicians and suggested that if the first caucus state were Idaho we would probably be trying to stuff potatoes in our gas tanks. Even Al Gore has admitted exploiting ethanol in his global warming crusade for political reasons. The 73-27 vote on an amendment by Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., exceeded the 60-vote threshold needed to advance the measure as part of an economic development bill. While the bill itself is unlikely to go anywhere, the vote, after an earlier disappointing vote on a procedural matter, signals that when the ethanol subsidy expires on Dec. 31 it is not likely to be renewed...more