The Ethanol Election Issue

By Alan Caruba

The issue of the nation’s financial and economic security is likely to dominate the November 4 election. Earlier in the campaign cycle we might have assumed that foreign affairs and energy would be uppermost on the minds of voters, but we’re told that, ultimately, voters vote their pocketbooks.

One place they most notice a major problem, however, is at the gas pump where prices continue to remain over $3.50 a gallon. It is doubtful anyone really thinks about the part of that cost that can be attributed to the government mandate that each gallon include ethanol. Other costs include the government mandated different blends of gasoline required in different regions or sections of the nation. The refinery costs of that are built into the price as well. Then, of course, there are the federal and state gasoline taxes that add considerably to the cost.

The consumer is constantly being told that the cost is determined by the global marketplace for oil and, to an extent this is true. However, left largely unsaid is the role the government plays in its refusal to permit exploration and extraction of oil reserves that are either known or which potentially exist on the mainland and off the continental shelf of the nation.

The mere mention of offshore drilling by Sen. John McCain was sufficient to drive down the global price per barrel for a while. It lifted his campaign prospects. Largely unexamined, however, have been Sen. Barack Obama’s long-held positions on ethanol production.

Dennis T. Avery, a senior fellow with the Hudson Institute and Director of Global Food Issues, recently took note of the disparities between the candidate’s positions on ethanol. “Obama wants more ethanol, while McCain thinks we should probably have less,” noting that “both say man-made global warming is a serious threat, and both say they want the best for the nation’s farmers.”

Both candidates are wrong on many counts, not the least is their belief that global warming is either man-made or actually happening. It is not. Ironically, the wailing about man-made greenhouse gas emissions completely ignores the fact that ethanol actually contributes more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere while, at the same time, decreasing the mileage per gallon of gasoline.

Avery says that “global food and feed demand will double over the next 40 years” and that is leading to the clearing of forests to grow more corn, both as a gasoline additive and as food. Forests absorb carbon dioxide. They are often called “carbon sinks.” In addition, the more ethanol plants there are, the higher the price of corn rises due to demand.

Robert Bryce, the author of “Gusher of Lies”, one of the best books on global energy issues you will ever read, is also a co-editor of Energy Tribune, a leading monthly. In the October edition, he takes aim at ethanol calling it a scam and “pure, unadulterated lunacy.”

Bryce writes, “Barack Obama doesn’t want to talk about corn ethanol. And it’s no wonder. In early August, his campaign Web site purged several sections of his energy plan that talked about corn ethanol.

Before the purge, Obama was touting corn ethanol as a pivotal element in his push for ‘energy independence.’ His site declared that Obama ‘will require 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels to be included in the fuel supply by 2022 and will increase that to at least 60 billion gallons of advanced biofuels like cellulosic ethanol by 2030.”

By August, however, Obama had come up with a new set of talking points on energy and “All mentions of corn ethanol were removed,” wrote Bryce. “The word ‘ethanol’ only appears once.”

Do not be fooled. Obama is a major proponent of ethanol. Bryce reports that, “In January 2007, Obama and two other senators, Democrat Tom Harkin of Iowa and Republican Richard Lugar of Indiana, introduced legislation called the ‘American Fuels Act of 2007.’ It aimed at promoting the use of ethanol and provided mandates for the use of more biodiesel.”

Obama’s national campaign co-chair is Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader and longtime ethanol booster. Daschle serves on the boards of three key ethanol companies. Obama represents Illinois, a state that trails only Iowa and Nebraska in ethanol production capacity.

If you have any hope of seeing the price of gasoline reduced or the cost of food decrease, that will not happen if Obama is elected. At the very least, McCain has signaled that he is no fan of ethanol.

Alan Caruba writes a weekly column posted on the Internet site of The National Anxiety Center, www.anxietycenter.com. He blogs daily at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com.

© Alan Caruba, October 2008

************************************

The second debate is now over and done, and what a debate it was.

Politico.com's Roger Simon has already said "McCain loses by not winning," a quote which is quite warranted based on the fact that it was McCain who had a lot to prove tonight. Did he pull it off? Initial polling would seem to indicate not.

McCain had been given the advantage tonight; the debate was in a "Town Hall" format, a type that McCain has been pushing for for a long time. In spite of that, the format was not kind to McCain: most of the time, McCain appeared frail (his style of walking does not fit the format well, to the point that one must question why McCain supports the style).

McCain also did little to show his more temperate side, often appearing annoyed or upset (in contrast to Obama's famous calm under pressure). At one point, a testy McCain referred to Senator Obama as "that one," a very disrespectful and distasteful move that is sure to haunt McCain-Palin in the weeks to come. Overall, Obama maintained a Presidential demeanor, while McCain was the grumpy old man.

Overall, here are the specific problems I had with the debate (yes, most of them were with John McCain:

1. In one of the first questions from a gentleman in the audience, McCain belittled a voter by suggesting he had not "heard of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac" before the debate. Why would anyone think that a man who can't even respect his voters before the election would respect them after it?
2. McCain (amazingly) was the one who made the first reference to getting "rid of cronyism," even though McCain himself is a famous crony.
3. McCain again attempted to spin Obama's tax policies to make them look like they are a majority hike, even though Barack has clearly stated that 95% of working Americans will get a tax break under his plan. It is amazing that McCain thinks he can fool anyone with this; McCain's tax plans (which is essentially to do nothing with taxes) do NOT BENEFIT THE EVERY MAN. They benefit the rich. Period.
4. At one point, McCain claimed that "we will not be able to provide" the same benefits to future generations as we do to the current one (in regards to Social Security). I would be willing to bet that no candidate in history has ever sold out the American people before the election like McCain did with this comment. It is unfortunate that he hasn't accepted the fact that the people need hope, not someone telling them what America can't do.
5. McCain constantly referred to work with Joe Lieberman as "reaching across the aisle." Lieberman is Democrat only in name (and even gave a speech at the RNC). Any real Democrats McCain has worked with?
6. Obama was not tough enough on McCain in his rebuttal of the claim that Obama's tax plan will hurt small business. Most small businesses in this nation do not provide incomes of more than $250,000 per annum. It is simple logic, but this is the one point in which I feel Barack failed to drive the point home and rebut the McCain-Palin spin machine.

In short, McCain lost (which isn't surprising). His campaign has fallen into the mud, his running mate has become a laughing stock, and he himself has now substantiated his persona of the grumpy old man.

Sorry John, but "that one" seems to have kicked your ass.

Sarah Palin made a campaign stop here in Pensacola today. The Grand Old Party has a brand new star. A couple of months ago, do you think one local Joseph P. Sixpack could have picked the Governor of Alaska out of a lineup? I doubt it. But today they filled the Civic Center don't cha' know.

Even our very own Governor Charlie "The Silver Fox" Crist is able to get past the disappointment of not being selected for the VP spot. He puts on a brave face and points out several things he admires about his rival. Or perhaps he's pointing out the "white after Labor Day" problem. Either way, it explains the grin.

They say the bandaged hand is from a jogging fall. Do you buy that? There was a minor hubbub at debate time about it but don't you feel there has got to be a better story. Clawed while wrestlin' a grizzly. Bruised while poundin' the glass at the hockey rink. Frostbite from a double top secret mission across the Bering Straight. Playtime with the "first dude" got out of hand. Wrench slipped while rebuilding the transmission on the Straight Talk Express. Something. Anything besides "I fell down".

She's a former basketball player and beauty queen for goodness sake. She should be halfway coordinated. She didn't just fall down. I think they tried to take her out. I think some nervous Republicans were unhappy with Mrs. Hot Mom and wanted her off the ticket by any means necessary. But I think they underestimated her and found themselves up against and Alaskan Rambo. I think she left those nervous Republicans writhing in pain somewhere in the Alaskan wilderness and all she got was a little scratch on her palm. Now, every time she waves, she flashes the bandage as a warning. "Stand back or this hot mom will go medieval on you. That goes for you too Mr. Crist."

The Pensacola News Journal article about the visit: "Palin Wows Pensacola"

If that doesn't convince you that deregulation is the wrong scapegoat, consider this: The appetite for toxic mortgages was fueled by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the super-regulated housing finance companies. Calomiris calculates that Fannie and Freddie bought more than a third of the $3 trillion in junk mortgages created during the bubble and that they did so because heavy government oversight obliged them to push money toward marginal home purchasers. There's a vigorous argument about whether Calomiris's number is too high. But everyone concedes that Fannie and Freddie poured fuel on the fire to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.

That's the Fannie and Freddie that Democrats so vigorously resisted reining in.

Next, let's take a trip down memory lane to September 1999, courtesy of the New York Times:

In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.

The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region -- will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring.

Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits. . .

In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's.

(Emphasis mine.)  During the last year of the Clinton administration, there was a lot of talk about what Bill Clinton's "legacy" would be.  Now I think we know.

(Via Justin Webb's America, via the Corner.) (Previous post.)

****

In an effort to offer the American people one more choice, Nanners has decided, 'Hey, if Sarah Palin can get into office sporting a flag pin and glasses, and no experience, maybe I can too!'

So, from this day forward, Nanners has dedicated himself to being your third party VP candidate. If any of the third party folks want him, he's ready for the job. He DOES have his glasses and flag pin. That's all you need, right?* 

Plus, Nanners can debate like a motherf***er!!

*Please be aware that Nanners is, in fact, pregnant with Sarah Palin's child and may soon be giving birth to the humanzee antiChrist, but that shouldn't stop him from his duties--if Palin can poorly raise five children, so can he!!

Sarah Palin Video of the Day –

A classic spoof that melds the infamous 'Miss Teen USA' viral video with the Palin-Charlie Gibson interview...classic!

Plus, one more shout out to Sara Benincasa and her awesome parody, "Sarah Palin's Vlog!" Here's another installment:

The day he died, my elementary school teacher set aside time in class to talk about him and what he did, and we had a moment of silence. I thought to myself, President Kennedy must be a very important person. I want to be President someday!

Of course, when you grow up, things change.  I am not the kind of person anyone would typically elect to be President, and I would never purposely choose a job where things are, shall we say, so political.  (Bureaucracy drives me nuts!) 

I do see government as an important part of life in our country, but I no longer see it as being possible for the average person to be President.  For that to be true is a real shame, because in my way of thinking, the people who live and work closest to the problems out here just might be the ones who are able to come up with the best solutions: we're often the most desperate for them, and as they say, necessity is the mother of invention!

For the last ten or fifteen years, I've been thinking about what it would take for an average person in America to become President, and what I would do for America if I were President.  Since my perspective is often different than that of others, I thought some of it might bring value to others as a catalyst for sparking new ways of thinking about our government, what a President might do for the rest of us, and what we could do for our country.  A fantasy, perhaps, but something that could become reality if enough of us worked together for a common cause. 

The rest of my posts will be perspectives and ideas intended to engage and make use of your perspectives/comments too for making our country an even better place!

IN LIGHT OF THE DEBATE THAT TOOK PLACE ON TUESDAY NIGHT, IT IS APPARENT THAT JOHN MCCAIN IS DOING A LOT OF TALK..... BELIEVE ME "MY FRIENDS" AS HE ALWAYS SAYS, THE TALK ISN'T COMING OUT OF HIS MOUTH. HERE'S AN INDICATION OF WHAT IS MEANT BY THIS STATEMENT.

1. p. 7 equivocation: "I know too well, you are all sick, yet sick, not one so sick as I."

2. p. 16 bandwagon appeal: "Then, the next best thing, if i may say it..." "... Tiresias of Apollo. He is our source of light, our chance of learning, King."

3. p. 22 hasty generalization: "Creon? Of course! Was it you or he that thought up that?"

4. p. 30 ad hominem: "You're too good at talking. And I'm not good at hearing one found so laden with malevolence."

5. p. 34 ad hominem: "Only a fool would believe in a rabid man."

Figurative Language

1. p.5 personification: "The city droops with elegiac sound and hymns with palls of incense hang."

2. p. 15 simile: "Such ties swear me to his side as if he were my father."

3. p.23 metonymy: "I'm blind, you say; you mock at that! I say you see and still are blind - appallingly: Blind to your origins and to a union in your home."

4. p. 52 paradox: "Well he's dead and may he rest in peace."

5. p. 71 personification: "What giant of evil beyond all human brawn pounced on you with devil's doom?"

Literary Terms

1. p. 5 protagonist: "Yes, I whom men call Oedipus the Great." From this statement one can tell Oedipus is the protagonist of the story because citizens praise him and call him the Great, and even though he deals with internal struggles, he is fighting for the good of the city and himself.

2.p. 5 symbol: "See the storm that batters down the city's prow in waves of blood." This is symbolism for the weight and destruction of the conflict (King Laius's death) upon the citizens of the town.

3. p. 5,7 tone: "My children" "This quest that throngs you here, poor needy children, is no new quest for me." The first quote is very authoritative and fatherly, addressing his people as "my children". The second quote is confident and somewhat mocking as he refers to his citizens as poor needy children.

4. p. 20 conflict: "The rotting canker in the State is you." "Insolence! And dare you think you're safe?" This is the beginning of a conflict between Oedipus and Tiresius when Tiresius claims Oedipus is the one who killed King Laius.

5. p. 29 conflict: "What? You again? You dare come back? Have the face to put your foot inside my door?" This is the beginning of the ongoing conflict between Oedipus and his brother in law Creon.

6. p. 33 paradox: "A mind at peace does not engender wars." This statement is a paradox because it contains two incompatible elements, peace and war, and it is true.

7. p. 44 epiphany: "... and yet the thing had hatched a scruple in my mind which grew so deep it made me steal away from home to Delphi, to the oracle, and there Apollo never hinting..." This is an epiphany because Oedipus comes to a realization of the god's presence in his life.

8. p. 53 plot: "Apollo once declared that I would come to couple with my mother, and with these very hands of mine spill out the life-blood of my father." In this quote, Oedipus states the plot of the story.

9. p. 56 climax: "Discovered... in a woody mountain dell of Cithaeron." This is the climax because it is when Jocasta realizes that Oedipus is her son and also her husband and Oedipus discovers that his mother in Corinth isn't his real mother which opens up the rising tension between Jocasta and Oedipus.

10. p. 70 symbol: "...rips from off her dress the golden brooches she was wearing." Brooches are used to hold pieces of garments together and are designed to look beautiful to the eye. The brooches symbolize something that looks fine from the outside, but underneath it all things are not what they seem. When Oedipus rips the brooches off Jocasta's garments, it is symbolic for their lives falling apart.

This one made me laugh pretty hard, too.

As I like to say, often and with vigor, without the ignoramus, racist, homophobic, xenophobic, intolerant, Invisible Sky Wizard-worshipping base, the GOP would go the way of the Whigs. In the spirit of the times, I'll add "illiterate," since their spelling seems to be not so good.

More.

Please help us, someone.

Next year, expect to hear "Even George McGovern. . ." a lot.

(Via Gateway Pundit, via Instapundit.)

Unfortunately, the 70 gruesome executions over the past 10 days in Tijuana make lies out of the ads.

Mexico really can't come up with a convincing slogan unless, perhaps, they try: "Come to Mexico. It's not like the government has collapsed. Yet."

Even though there are accusations passing here and there as to who is responsible of the killing of General Janaka Perera, it is quite obvious that it is implemented by the LTTE. Having said that, it would be worth to figure out who set up the environment for the assassin by refusing adequate security for him. Who benefited from his departure? Against whom he had filed cases in the Supreme Court? General Perera once mentioned in a newspaper interview that his enemy is not going to come up with a face-to-face fight. It would either be a sniper, mortar, claymore or a suicide attack, he said. Three or four policemen (who can hardly take a target right) with T56 weapons would not make any difference in front of such an attack. Therefore he requested for proper security to face the real threat. But the responsible authorities kept silent as dumb asses. As they say, the rest is history.

So the UNP (and the country in general) has lost another upcoming leader. Three young children have lost their father and mother within a blink of an eye. As the authorities say, the terrorists are on verge of a major defeat. Just a day before this incident, I saw in my very eyes how strong were the security arrangements in Anuradhapura. Armed soldiers, Police and even military police were all around the city. Then what are you going to make up by so called military advances in northern front, if you cannot secure a city with a critical Air base, quite a few army camps and an important military hub by such weakened terrorist organization? If they can still penetrate such a strong security blanket, what is the use of this whole mess? Where are the 'patriots' who took the streets when a few frontline informers were killed during the UNP regime?

One thing came to my mind after this tragedy was that the end of Premadasa regime began with the assassination of General Kobbekaduwa. President Premadasa never could get away from the blame that it was a set up. They say that the history repeats itself.

Obama: C-plus

McCain: F

I'll post a more substantive analysis tomorrow, but John McCain failed to shift the momentum of the presidential campaign at tonight's town hall debate. He scored some points here and there -- and Barack Obama's performance was largely dull, marred by go-nowhere attacks and counterattacks on McCain -- but McCain needed a big night tonight and he failed to deliver. McCain's grade on the town hall debate will be a bit better once I can analyze it in more detail, but the combined grade of the debate itself and the debate viewed in the broader context of the campaign still produces a failing score.

There are still four weeks left before Election Day and anything is possible, but unless McCain can find some other way to completely shift the direction of the race for the White House, he's done.

The EU has failed to take measures to protect all member states adequately, and now Iceland is taking drastic steps in an attempt to fend for itself. In an incredible blunder of foreign policy, the USA is sitting by as Iceland is working on a $5.4 billion loan from Russia...while We---the country responsible for this global catastrophe---do nothing to help them.

What the fuck are our leaders doing besides blowing smoke up the world's ass anymore?

If Iceland cannot save itself from the danger it faces, and if the community of nations don't help save it, it will be the domino that begins knocking others down---and this sham of a global economy based largely on unserviceable debt and money created out of thin air is going to collapse.

In my house it was a rout. Me, my son, and my dog were in 100% agreement.

The polls from the various cable channels weren't willing to go the 100%, but in most of them Obama was way ahead. The one I thought most telling was from CNN:

Who expressed his views more clearly in the debate?
Obama 60
McCain 30

Who spent more time attacking his opponent?
Obama 17
McCain 63

Who seemed to be the stronger leader?
Obama 54
McCain 43

Who was most likeable?
Obama 65
McCain 28

These are emotional not substantive, and voters often base their choices on emotion.

Some non-substantive stuff that I noticed:

• McCain's stiff strutting. He looked old and arthritic. One observer said he looked like he was walking an invisible dog on an invisible leash.
• McCain's jacket with the tie poking out the bottom looked shlumpy.
• Obama looked like a sleek cat - relaxed but ready to pounce at a moment's notice.
• McCain calling Obama "that one"... like he couldn't bring himself to say his name.
• Obama has an impeccable sense of style. He chose a silvery grey tie that said, "I don't need a red tied to prove I'm powerful."
• McCain's overworked use of "my friends" (17 times?) to an audience that looked like cold potatoes.
• After the obligatory handshakes at the end of the debate, the McCains bolted. The Obamas stayed, talked to folks, signed autographs, took photos for a LONG time. Like they thought the audience was more than cold potatoes.

I'll be curious to hear what the studio audience really thought...

As Counselor Mackey often puts it, "uh..ummkayy."

Rick fucking Warren? I'll bet there are tons of Jewish voters who might take issue with the King of Patronage here.

What. A. Loser.

McCain, too.

Update: Shit. Forgot to include the funniest part, the title: "Fred Barnes is Right."

LOL. Next up? Bill Kristol is right on, like totally, man, always, and is so cool.

McCain's smile isn't genuine ... what makes you think his words are?

In considering the presidential debate tonight, you may have noticed McCain's feeble attempts at smiling and joking around.  But he was unsuccessful.  Mind you, who would laugh at jokes that aren't funny?  And what smilee would smile back at a fake, menacing smiler? 

I sure wouldn't.

When a person puts on a genuine smile, the corners of their mouth will lift up, and so will the corners of their eyes.  Notice that Johnny McCain's eye corners don't move.  And don't try to blame that one on war torture too.  McCain fails at smiling because his empathy and concern towards American citizens isn't real.  He's trying to fool us.

It's not working Cainey.

If you think about it, why would Johnny have any empathy for the average every day Joe Six Pack anyway?  He's nothing like us.  Johnny Boy has 7 to 9 homes; he lost count in seeking accuracy.  And it shows in his interactions with Americans in his infamous "town hall meetings".  Inauthentic smiles, inability to make prolonged eye contact, and an undeniable offstandishness with his brethren.  Johnny McCain is an elitist, and has no idea what people are going through right now; nor does he care.

So why would you trust him to fix something that he doesn't know is broken?

Don't.  You can't trust a deceptive, menacing liar.

I have an aunt and uncle who divorced after 28 years. It can happen, I suppose.

Hunter S Thompson was right. Fuck "fair and balanced." Tell us your biases. Transparency rules.

My Friend

I barely was able to get through the debates because of Senator John McCain saying, "My friend" so much.

I don't know about the experiences others have had in life, but this is what panhandlers typically always start their pitch for money with — "My friend."

My friend make a PayPal donation. See how that works?

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