The whole Ethanol craze is government at its worst - a terrible idea supported by special interests. One of the few impressive things Congress has done recently was to come together in a bipartisan way in the House to redo farm subsidies with moderates from both parties agreeing to reshape all of this. Unfortunately, the House leadership doesn't want to expose their members to a political vote, so as of now, the bill looks dead in the water. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78460.html The House Agriculture Committee has given birth to a 600-page farm bill that Republican leaders seem to want nothing to do with. And just months from Election Day, it could prove to be a headache for House GOP leadership. The bipartisan bill, which united Democrats, hardened conservatives, farmers and food stamp reformers in committee, is unlikely to see a floor vote, more than a half-dozen sources said. Publicly, Speaker John Boehner has been coy about bringing the farm bill to the floor — it would be messy, aides say, pitting regional and ideological interests against one another other in an election year. Officially, Boehner said “no decisions have been made” about if and when to bring it to the floor. Behind the scenes, the plan is far clearer. The committee’s product won’t see the light of day. Instead, Republicans are likely to try to extend the current farm policy that they’ve consistently decried as broken. And they won’t even do it this month, GOP aides say — they’ll likely wait until September. ...
