It's nice to see Congress finally coming around to something so many of us have known for years: subsidies to ethanol were a waste of money. I particularly liked this part.
The ethanol industry is responding by predicting disaster if it loses its taxpayer feeding tubes, with the Renewable Fuels Association evoking massive job losses and another Dust Bowl. But what kind of business can't survive without subsidies when government also mandates that consumers buy its products? As the Senators dryly noted, "Historically our government has helped a product compete in one of three ways: subsidize it, protect it from competition, or require its use. We understand that ethanol may be the only product receiving all three forms of support from the U.S. government at this time."
And it still can't get off the ground. If an infant industry cannot convince private investors to lend it money so it can get off the ground, it's probably not that hot. If people must also be forced to use it, then it's probably pretty cold. If it also must be protected from foreign competition, that's absolute zero, baby.
