1 I take back a third of what I said about them yesterday.  Really - a good step.

2 But, Iowa needs it's welfare!!

3 OT - Suicide bombing in Netanya, Israel.  Looks as if there are many dead and wounded.

4 Romney= obama sequel.

5 Corn: Fuels Gold.

6 3 OT - Suicide bombing in Netanya, Israel.  Looks as if there are many dead and wounded.

On the heels of this news:

After 2 months of quiet, Gaza militants fire rocket into Israel; No injuries or damage - @Jerusalem_Post http://bit.ly/jZmrpP

Beginning of a Third Intifada?

7 While it ends subsidies, it does nothing to end laws mandating minimum ethanol use.

This seems ass backwards.

8

Beginning of a Third Intifada?

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at June 16, 2011 06:15 PM (c0A3e)

I may have jumped the gun though there have been rockets fired in Israel.  The cause of the explosion in the cafe is not known yet.

9 Does this mean that corn will become affordable as food again?

10 Obarney Fife may not sign it. Will they override?

11 Good.

12 If the Senate thinks they're going to keep me from using the rest of my Romney corn pictures, they are sadly mistaken.

13 Does this mean that corn will become affordable as food again? Jack Daniels is food?

14 Shit. Now I gotta plow under all that friggin' corn I planted. Shit.

15 jack daniels is not made with corn thank you

16 Well, one tiny step for sanity after the long walk of insanity over the last few years.

I'm pleased but I'm not exactly ecstatic.

17 I wonder if that corn is 7 inches long.

18 So my price at the pump is going to go up about 3 cents/gallon due to paying federal tax on the full gallon vs the 90% pure gasoline but not the ethanol fraction? I'm glad switching from mid grade to cheapest actually raised my MPG. I know most folks report the opposite but I can tell a loss of power (Saturn 2001 SL doesn't have tons to spare) but the mpg went up a bit. Being its an econo box anyway and I'm rarely on interstate I've just accepted extra wimpyness for the extra 20 miles per tankful of gas that costs me 15 cents less per gallon.

19 No, I've got to say that's a major improvement.  The US Senate (collectively) just told virtually the entire midwest to go pound sand.

That'll buy them... oh, 47 seconds of good will from me.

Starting...
...
...
...
NOW!

20 10: Seriously? Barry might refuse to sign a tax increase? I'll believe that when it happens.

21 Okay.

Done.

22 Norquist is being a douche about this.

Ending ethanol subsidies is a no-brainer.

23 How can Norquist be in favor of ethanol?  Is that true? 

24 jack daniels is not made with corn thank you Darn it. "Corn squeezin's is food?"

25 when hasnt norver not been a douche i hope his group wants to do ads here if so sory ace

26

"jack daniels is not made with corn thank you"

Ummm...really?

Wanna explain what it is made with? (this should be good)

27 It's a start. Now end the reverse-subsidy on drilling.

28 _{How can Norquist be in favor of ethanol?  Is that true?}

He sees the ending of a tax credit as a tax increase that needs to be offset with a spending cut.

29 Norquist is being a douche about this.

Einstein was right:  There is at least one universal constant.

This vote represents a baby step on the way to a coherent energy policy.  However, we need to be eternally vigilant about the swithgrass menace as well.

P.S.:  I guess I missed all the fireworks over the last couple of days.  I am always amazed that some forget that the Head Ewok is the Head Ewok.

30 OT but My God this Ckank Uyger guy on MSNBC is so stoopid, the doctor should have slapped his mom when he was born. He's calling Republican congressmen "hypocrites" for being maxed out on their personal credit cards, but opposed to ruinous public debt. Nobody is asking you to pay off their personal debt, you Jerk!

31

That's a nice surprise.

Hopefully laws mandating minimum ethanol use will just fall by the wayside. Without subsidies, how are many of these ethanol companies will be able to stay in business? And when they start falling, if you can't meet the minimum standards, you can't meet the standards.

32 I am always amazed that some forget that the Head Ewok is the Head Ewok.

Look at the fuzzy little guy. How cute!

33 Off, sock

34 He sees the ending of a tax credit as a tax increase that needs to be offset with a spending cut.
Posted by: Valiant at June 16, 2011 06:35 PM

No, corn production is both subsidized and given tax credits.  They're just ending the subsidies, from what I understand.

35 jack daniels is not made with corn thank you

I believe what you have there is known as a "conceptual error."

36
Jack Daniels is food?
Posted by: t-bird at June 16, 2011 06:24 PM

WTF? Why aren't you drinking Valu-Rite?

37
Establishment Republican Mitt Rockefeller inserts ethanol in mouth.

Establishment Republican Party Leadership to the rescue.

/"I question the timing"...(that was the running line here once.)

38 Keeping the mandate but ending the subsidy?  Either this raises the cost of blended fuel or it causes a shortage of it, am I right?

39 Ethanol cost me $1,500 in boat repairs last year.

Screw those square state farmers is what I say.

40
I'm off the vegan diet!!!

41 While it ends subsidies, it does nothing to end laws mandating minimum ethanol use. But it's a start. Allahpundit has more.

Has the House already passed this? Oh, and the Dems line on this now is that Repubs are FOR tax increases now.

42 Wodeshed I believe the square states tend to be more wheat, barely and oats. Even KS is kind of dry for raising a lot of corn. Its those squiggly ass states like Iowa, Illinois, Indiana .... that are prime corn growers.

43 Them dadburn revenooers were always after my corn squeezins!

44 38 Keeping the mandate but ending the subsidy?  Either this raises the cost of blended fuel or it causes a shortage of it, am I right?

It'll probably do both.  It's a step in the right direction, but without completing the next step (ditching the mandate), it'll be bad in the long run. 

45 WTF? Why aren't you drinking Valu-Rite?

Posted by: arhooley at June 16, 2011 06:40 PM (ZoJc5)

Indeed! Valu-Rite is a rare example of vodka distilled from fermented hobo sweat, aged in particle-board casks and infused with anti-freeze for flavor and a subtle hint of sweetness.

It's known to provide a quick and enjoyable buzz but the aficionado should be warned: Overconsumption usually leads to embarrassing displays of lewd conduct and/or gutter sleeping.

46

Something's afoot.

In the same day the Party of Immorality casts off one of their own for immoral behavior AND gives up one of the legs of their precious Cap'n Trade Energy Hoax that is meant to enslave us all.  What's next, they going to annouce they made a mistake with Obamacare?

These people do nothing that is not calculated.  My first thought is that their internal polling numbers shows them that they are going to get their arses handed to them so bad next year at the polls that it will make Sherman's march to the sea look like an Adopt a Highway clean-up brigade.

47 I can haz pretty thoughts.

48 It seems pretty stupid to end the subsidies but not get rid of the mandate.

Instead of the taxpayer paying for it in taxes (or, more accurately, borrowing from the Chinese), the taxpayer pays for it at the pump. The problem remains - consumers are forced to buy shit no sane person wants or needs.

49 Well, then somebody in a squiggly state owes me some dough.

Seriously, though, ethanol is a major problem in boats, and there is no change in the NC regulation that specifies that no service station need notify customers of ethanol content unless it exceeds 10% by volume.

The issue is that ethanol content is difficult to control, and it breaks down in a matter of a few months into water.  That's an issue in cars, but a far bigger problem in a boat engine.  Mechanics here on the NC coast are flooded, if you will, with broken down motors due to ethanol.  My own mechanic told me recently of a guy who filled his tank with what was ultimately determined to be 25% water, at 4 bucks a gallon.

50 OT: Rep. Cantor hints at bill as early as next week to defund US mission to Libya

"Speaking on the House floor, Cantor outlined next week's House schedule, which he said could include 'potential legislation related to the ongoing military conflict in Libya.'"

51 You guys leavin' me out da cold? 

52 What's scary is that one of my Senators, Dianne Feinstein, proposed this amendment.

Even more shocking is that Babs supported her.

Blind squirrels, nuts, yada, yada, yada.

53 49: pure-gas.org I don't know how reliable it is but they collect stations that sell non-ethanol gasoline or say that they do.

54 ok i am a shithead but i wont apologize i qoute" to be called a whisky the mash must 51% corn"oh hell im sorry

55 53

Thanks for the tip.  I've got a line on a marina here; one out of five locally being the only one with pure gas.

56 52: I don't know about that, its basically saying the gub'mint wants its full measure of gasoline taxes and isn't going to give any back to ethanol producers anymore. Although lifting the import restrictions ?? payback to the midwest states for going red in 2010?

57

I agree with Coburn, end the payout to ME interests and develop our own energy resources and economy. 

_{I was gonna say kick them off the teat.}

58
if the Republicans were smart...they'd refer to it as "Obama's Libyan War."

59

Corn farmers still get paid, fuel prices go up.

What's not to like?

60 Well that totally came out of left (or right I guess) field.  I figured that the Senate was going to be completely worthless until enough Harry Reid is demoted to Minority House Leader.


Now for them to get the ball rolling on a bunch of other things that would actually be helpful.

61 I should tell my story," Mr. Romney said. "I'm also unemployed."

He chuckled. The eight people gathered around him, who had just finished talking about strategies of finding employment in a slow-to-recover economy, joined him in laughter.

"Are you on LinkedIn?" one of the men asked.

"I'm networking," Mr. Romney replied. "I have my sight on a particular job."

Sorry...but I'm sitting this one out if this fucking idiot gets the nom

62 Why is it such an impressive achievement for the Congress to stop a wasteful program that does virtually nothing to deal with the issue it was specifically designed to deal with?

63 54 ok i am a shithead but i wont apologize i qoute" to be called a whisky the mash must 51% corn"oh hell im sorry

Jack Daniel's isn't just whiskey, it's Tennessee Whiskey. Not quite bourbon whiskey but damn fine tasting.

64
Naming states square or squiggly is surely a step up from the name for Florida, the flaccid penis state with one ball!

It's because of all the dicks that moved here from New York and New Jersey. 

65 I am Cornholio, and I'm running for President,

66 Maybe they could end ethanol too? 

We have two weed eaters that simultaneously bit the dust, wouldn't feed the gas.  The power tool guys said that it is likely caused by ethonol 10 in the gas.

  If you put Stabil in the gas, as we do for overwintering the gas in such equipment, the ethanol 10 reacts with the Stabil to produce a paste, which then clogs the carborater.  Stabil has a new product that solves the problem caused by gas w/ higher ethanol percentages.

Don't be a victim.

67
Alvin Greene with a extra E looks more promising every day after witnessing some of our starters leaving the gate.   A couple of gimps, a wussie, a two-timer, a serial adulterer, and a chick that sends shivers down the dicks of most liberal women. 

68 Someone's getting rich off this. Gotta be.

69 My God!  The Corn!

70 Wha' happen???

71 It's He-who-moves-between-the-rows.

72 Corn is for Fritos™!

73 nothing to end laws mandating minimum ethanol use

Were the minimums just nonsense arguments.  Lower Oil use & less CO2?
Or was part of it actual pollutants CO, Nwhatever.  Any car/chemistry folks to put us some octane knowledge.

74 Ever tried a corn dog?

75 I can't wait to see Romney flop about like a fish on this issue.

76 B-but how does this help 'urban farming' in Detroit!

77

I think this is just a lot of Congressional Kabuki. I expect Barry to veto it for some idiot reason. Then Congress will say that they can't get an override as it stands so they "have to compromise". Which, in the end, will mean that functionally the subsidy/tax break will remain, cheap cane alcohol from Brazil will still be tariffed to a value ADM and Cenex like, and the mandates will remain.

I guess I've just gone completely over to the cynical (dark) side.

78 If they can get 73 votes to end the subsidies they almost have to have enough to repeal the mandate, no? Or will the greens protest a vote like that? Another big thing is lifting the 54-cent tariff on imported ethanol. It's a protectionist measure for the US sugar industry and prevents Brazilian sugar cane ethanol imports. I wonder if sugar cane ethanol would satisfy the mandate. better to buy theirs than burn our own food.

79 Though if we wanted to see courage, Congress would do away with the subsidies that support high fructose corn syrup. Except then we'd have to suffer with cheaper cane sugar in our foods.

80 66

Yeah, everyone around here uses the blue Stabil, for ethanol treatment.  Doesn't do shit if it has already gone to water in the station's tank.

81 Romney LOVE that corn!

82 "Sorry...but I'm sitting this one out if this fucking idiot gets the nom Posted by: beedubya at June 16, 2011 07:11 PM (AnTyA)" I may be crazy, but isn't that how we wound up with the idiot we have now? May I suggested voting for anything NOT Obama, ANYTHING even Hillery!

83 How can Norquist be in favor of ethanol?  Is that true? 

Posted by: rdbrewer at June 16, 2011 06:32 PM (jaxDa)

RINO establishment Rove clone paying back his buds.

It is obvious that all alternative energy subsidies need to end!

84 While I am happy that the Senate ended a subsidy that should never have existed in the first place, I'm not going to celebrate this one. Since they are still mandating ethanol use, this is nothing more than a tax increase. If goverment is getting out of "picking winners and losers" as it should, then it means not manadating that we continue to buy a bad product at full price. I am not holding my breath while waiting for the mandate repeal.

85 Dude. Corn Man rocks.

86 I just made a perfect bag of popcorn to celebrate.  The secret is to lower the microwave setting and cook it longer.  Kinda like slow roasting.

87 Sort of related to this story,  the local radio guy in Indianapolis this evening had a 2-hour show called  "EPS: Friend or Foe?"  At the end of 2 hours, the score was 26 for foe and 2 for friend,  with those 2 qualifying it by saying that they didn't want to say foe but they needed to be reigned in.

Lots of callers with examples of EPA and putting the blame on Obama,  with the host finally saying that he wonders why Obama is cutting the legs out from under the miners who supported him.

I chimed in with my standard examples of Gulf oil being shut down while Brazil got help to drill,  and coal mines here shutting while they mine like gangbusters in southeast Asia.

Also put in the "Obama sees himself as the avenger for the Third World" theory.

88 Ack!  That should read "EPA: Friend or Foe?"

89 Big lol for the p'shop.  And, yeah, the sad part is we will still have to put that crap in the tanks of our cars.

90

 While it ends subsidies, it does nothing to end laws mandating minimum ethanol use.

So that will make gas prices go down, huh?  No?

91 Two words:  Corn Welfare!

92

You guys are so far behind the political curve on this.  All of the major ethanol lobbies, and the farm state Senators support the Thune/Klobuchar Bill that .  .  .  .  ends the VEETC ($0.45/gal subsidy for ethanol.)  This amendment (to a bill that's unlikely to pass) is just a "place-holder" for that bill.

This subsidy is for the Blenders (re: oil companies.)  The farmers, and biorefineries have never benefitted from the VEETC, and they are, quite frankly, tired of taking heat for something from which they derive virtually no benefit.

<a href="http://www.card.iastate.edu/publications/synopsis.aspx?id=1160">This Academic Study</a> found that the presence of the 900,000 bbl/day of ethanol in the market reduced the price of a gallon of gasoline last year by $0.89.  We use about 135 Billion Gallons/Yr.  You do the math.

93 I'll wait a few days, till the dust settles, before I celebrate.

94 Who the hell is Gene Erich?

95

1)  None of you have ever eaten an ear of field corn in your life

2)  The Tariffs on Foreign ethanol are lifted.

3)  Jim Cramer, notwithstanding, it doesn't matter; Corn ethanol costs less than Brazilian Cane ethanol (we've been Exporting Corn ethanol to Brazil for over a  year.)

96 I know nothing about the ag biz, but...

If food prices are so high due to a shortage of these grain commodities, such that the 3rd world can't afford imports of this stuff, can't our farmers make a decent return now growing... food?

97

Rufus, we don't eat feild corn but cattle do.  And we eat cattle.

I think that cute little Corny Mitt will help him win the Iowa Caucus... you should put it on a billboard.

 

98

Field Corn is cattle feed. We've never exported field corn, in much quantity, to the 3rd world. We mostly export corn to Japan, Korea, etc. to feed their cattle, which are in turn eaten by their Rich.

In fact, the largest percentage, by far, of the world's malnourished are subsistence farmers. They can raise corn, but, due to the fact that our Subsidized corn was always so cheap, they couldn't afford to raise it to sell (and, human beings can only eat so much of the danged stuff.)

Anyway, no cash crop, no money to buy vegetables, fruits, edible grains, etc. Only with the higher prices of the last couple of years (about $0.08/lb on average,) have the poor Africans been able to make a few bucks raising the stuff.

All isn't as it seems when you get into the International "save the world" bizness.

99

It's time for real ethanol subsidies. I want a government check to buy me some more Valu-rite.

100 1)  I live in Cedar Rapids Iowa
2) I  work nights and live close to work so I drive exactly the same route every day and there is not much to do after work so not much driving around
3) ALL of my shopping is between work and home

4) when I was using ethanol blend I filled my 20 gal gas tank up every 4 weeks

5) since I switched to straight gas I fill that same tank up every 5 to 6 weeks

Exactly WHY are we subsidizing ethanol????

101 If we are going to make ethanol why not use Kudzu? ;-)

102 "1)  None of you have ever eaten an ear of field corn in your life"

You pick it while immature cut it off the cob and fry it. 

never much like the taste though

103

Dan, they've done some Serious Scientific Studies on this.  You should give up about 1.5% mpg with E10.  So, a difference of $0.06/gal between E10, and straight gas should cover that.  However, having said that, there are so many things that can greatly influence gas mileage that it gets very difficult in the real world to distinguish differences that small.  Weather (winter vs summer - dry vs wet) is the first thing that comes to mind.  Also, a lot of times a certain amount of self-fulfilling prophesizing starts to affect driving habits.

Anyway, we saw the difference when 1.2 million bbl/day of Libyan crude came off the market.  What would be the effect of 1.8 million bbl/day of ethanol coming off the global market?  Also to consider:  As more higher compression/efficient engines hit the market the differences between alcohol, and gasoline mpg will shrink. Ex. The Buick Regal 2.0 comes in somewhere between 5 and 10% difference in mileage between E85 and gasoline (with considerably more power running the ethanol blend.) 

104

@Rufus I think there are a lot of variables, I am lucky I live about 2 miles from work and like I said I work nights and don't drink so I drive to and from during the week.  I sometimes drive 4 blocks from my house to a very large grocery store that has every thing I need including the odd and ends of hardware, on Saturday Night I do meet with some political friends a few blocks from where I work again 2 miles Sunday I go to a meeting visit friends total round trip 10 miles?  My habits and life may seem boring to some but they are VERY regular and my 21 year old 1990 Dodge Caravan now uses about 20 gals every 5 to 6 weeks before every 4 weeks so for ME the savings were a lot more than 1.5%

Actually right now  times are tight and I don't fill the tank up any more I put some weeks $10 about 3 gals worth and some weeks $15 about 4 gals worth usually on Fiday like I did today,

You do the math.

 

As for the newer more effficient cars?  They cost a lot LOL I will stick with my clunker.  Why would I want to shell out all that money, raise my taxes and insurance just to lose the 25% greater mpg  I get now with regular gas???

105 Are you interested in Soccer? Right, you really like playing football. Plus, Soccer is just getting to be a worldwide popular sport nowadays. As fans of Soccer, you should get fully prepared at first. For example, you would better prepare a suitable pair of soccer cleats , a set of soccer jerseys or whatever. Otherwise, you will not enjoy an exciting football match. Anyway, it is necessary and essential to prepare for the football match in a good way.(yang)

106 thank you for sharing,I enjoyed the article.