The wasteful and damaging tax subsidy for ethanol production has expired after 30 years. The remarkable thing about this is that it's political season in Iowa - the capitol of ethanol subsidies - and candidates have not been bragging about their support for it. It appears that a coalition of the right and left may have doomed this example of corporate welfare, although the production of ethanol will continue - thus keeping the cost of food high. New York Times: Nearly 40 percent of the United States corn crop goes to ethanol and byproducts, including animal feed. The Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress, said, "The increasing demand for corn for ethanol production has contributed to higher corn prices." The higher prices have "created additional income for corn producers" but also appear to have increased costs to meat and poultry producers, big food companies, grocery shoppers and federal food programs, the Government Accountability Office said. The tax...(Read Full Post)