Have DeMint and Coburn stepped on the third rail of midwest politics? Whether you want to cut ethanol subsidies or not, it is undeniable that anyone who even suggests cutting subsidies gets a very cold shoulder in some very reliable red states.
Or can the Tea Party convince corn farmers vote against their own self interest yet again, only this time in a very up-close and personal way?
I personally think the subsidies should be cut, but I am not so naive that I think I can convince the corn belt to agree with me. The Tea Party must think they have enough power without the corn lobby, or they are just deluded about how far people will go in sacrificing their own interests for a political goal.
I think it will blow the 2012 primaries wide open, and divide the Tea Party from the mainstream GOP who largely support ethanol subsidies. The Tea Party is going to learn the hard way that all politics is local.
If the Republican Party does manage to eliminate ethanol subsidies, it would be one of the few indisputably and totally good things that they’ve done in my lifetime. However, given how difficult it is to get rid of even tiny handouts such as mohair subsidies, I doubt that it will happen.
I don’t really equate the Tea Party with the major corn growing states. I feel like you pretty much have to be a whore for Big Agriculture to get elected there.
You also have to be a whore to big agriculture to win the Iowa caucus. Can a Tea Party candidate (such as Sarah Palin) win Iowa while advocating the abolition of ethanol subsidies?
For heaven’s sake, even Algore recognizes that ethanol subsidies were a mistake. He even admitted he was whoring his environmental principles to try to win votes in the Iowa primary -
I suspect “getting a liar and hypocrite like Gore to admit it” can count as bipartisanism these days. I hope so - it may be the best we can hope for.
I think the GOP will keep the subsidies, and the Tea Party will forgive them. It will be just one more exhibit that the TP is really just another name for the right wing of the GOP, not a truly independent-minded small-government movement. DeMint and Coburn are rather ignorable. Maybe they get some token reduction, but even that would kinda surprise me (and I say that as someone that thinks the subsides are silly).
There is no way in hell that Sarah Palin (or any other POTUS contender) comes out against ethanol subsidies (and if she does, then I’ll become convinced she doesn’t really want to be president, just wants to use a run to keep her Q-score high).
That’s not how this works. A Great Debates thread does not become a Pit thread just because someone takes a shot at a politician during a discussion. If you think the comment is unwarranted, wrong, or foolish, say so while following the rules here. If you’re going to call someone else’s post “shitheaddery,” do it in the Pit.
OK, someone has to explain what “Algore” is supposed to mean, and how it’s a slight against Gore. I’ve never seen it before, and the link doesn’t explain it AFAICT.
I think what it is, is beyond the pale. “Teabagger” and “Repugnican” are the height of Algonquinian wit by comparison. The Pit demand is only so that we can, in this same thread, give Shodan the crucifixion he deserves. Not an unreasonable demand under the circumstances, Marley.
