Readers who depend on this series to elevate their blood pressure will know that democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is not so tough on E85 or the causes of E85. In fact, he's downright giddy at the prospect of federal subsidies for corn juice, and getting the damn gas stations to sell it. And so we turn to The Socialist Worker for a run-down on Barack's "fly me to the moon" (in an ADM private jet) relationship with the agribusiness interests who love them some E85. [We could have linked to The New York Times, but that was June, this is now.] Nicole Colson's rant is not new news, but it's a well-written summary and, dare I say it, accurate. "During his first year in office, Obama introduced a number of measures that benefited the agribusiness industry–such as the "Obama Amendment" that offered oil companies a 50 percent tax credit for building gas stations that offer E85 fuel. Obama also voted for the Bush administration's 2005 energy bill and opposed a proposal to lower tariffs on cheaper sugarcane-based ethanol from Brazil and other countries." Would John "Just Say No to Subsidies For Now" McCain dare confront Barack on this issue? What are you, kidding?
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Probably one of the bigger nails in the coffin of his Presidential bid — I’ve love to see him flip-flop on this one, as I disagree with him mightily on this.
I disagree with Obama on this as well. But I’m not looking forward to 4 more years of war, so I’m going to have to vote for him.
The guy keeps changing what he is for based on what audience he is speaking to. So, does anyone really believe anymore ANYTHING that he says? If so, how can you tell what he is going to do?
How does one deal with a politician whose stripes change in every situation to appeal to every situation. Where does he start;where does he end. Can we just call this politician jello boy and totally dismiss him due to his total lack of competence and credence.
Dynamic> Why not vote for someone that more fits your ideals rather than voting for one of the “big 2” ?
I plan to do this yet again.
So Exxon-Mobile rings up $11 Billion a quarter in profit and ADM rings up $500 million. Guess which one is criticized for excessive profits at the TTAC. Unbelievable.
Barack Obama would not be where he is now if he did not support ethanol. He would have lost Iowa and Hilary would be the nominee. McCain’s position that he supports ethanol but doesn’t want subsidies is hypocritical.
What if he said he supports the war in Iraq but doesn’t want to spent any money on it? It’s a joke. If you don’t want to spend money on what you support, you do not really support it. McCain will lose the Midwest.
The power of Big Oil is declining due to Peak Oil and ethanol power is rising due to there being no other viable alternative to gasoline.
As for foreign food problems: they get to run their country as they see fit and we get to run ours as we see fit. To suggest otherwise implies that non-citizens have a vote or at least a veto over Americans. It’s preposterous.
Change is hard to accept but it happens anyway.
This guy (Obama) wears me out. Wonderful orator….as long as the teleprompter’s plugged in.
DT
So who would pay for the windfalls profit tax?
The consumers is the correct answer.
It is looking more and more like politicians are trying to best car salesmen.
Not to mention McCain took how many million from the oil companies for his campaign last month then wanted to open up drilling off the coast right after?
Or how about McCain’s shifting story about his POW experience? That’s changed at least three times now, and now very closely mirrors one of his favorite author’s lines about a cross in the dirt that he had left out in every other recounting of the event.
Or how about McCain saying we’d be in Iraq for another 100 years then changing that tune fast?
And how about how out of touch McCain would be to normal folks? He and his current wife have 8 homes, one of which is worth around $100 million and flies around in their personal private jet? You know the wife he left his disfigured wife (due to a car accident that she suffered through while he was in the armed forces)for while vacationing in Hawaii with her – he was 42 at the time and his mistress (now his wife) was 24.
I don’t know – you tell me who the lesser of the two evils is. And Obama doesn’t need a teleprompter – he’s not old enough for CRS (can’t remember shit) to really have set in.
I don’t agree with Ethanol in its current form, but it can’t be ignored at the same token – it’s a step to help reduce dependence on oil, but one that currently is going in the wrong direction. I have hope that it will eventually be turned around and into something worth while.
I doubt that Lord Obama nor most of his disciples know that E85 actually has a lower energy content.
This is about a year old, but still a interesting article on this subject:
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/audacious_ethanol_hopes.html
Robstar :
August 21st, 2008 at 8:41 am
…Why not vote for someone that more fits your ideals rather than voting for one of the “big 2″ ?.
Because you’ll probably get the worse of the two. That is reason enough for me.
Sorry, but I’m seeing a lot more kpw-tow behavior these days from McCain than Obama. This is coming from a fellow who actually voted for McCain in the Y2K primaries.
As someone already mentioned, McCain started his hee-hawing on off shore drilling soon after getting heavily financed by several oil companies. He also saw fit to propose the suspension of federal gas taxes this summer due solely to current events as did Hillary Clinton. Obama was the one who said no and he said this at a time when it would cost him votes and overall support.
I don’t think Obama is everything I want in a ‘President’. But other than a lack of business experience (which is common for Presidents) and a dislike for some of the fringes within his supporters (ditto), he doesn’t strike me as a ‘lesser than two evils’ type.
Overall, he strikes me as a centrist who will likely triangulate between the moderates within both parties. If anything that appears to be the winning formula for a popular and effective President these days. Just ask Bill.
As for supporting ethanol? It may be expensive now but if demand/supply issues get really bad it could be a saving grace in terms of our deficit. We’re literally screwing our country over with Made from China slave labor crap and the subsidization of tinpot dictators who couldn’t manage a banana tree plant. The sooner we wean ourselves from those two elements, the better our security and prosperity will become.
And Obama doesn’t need a teleprompter – he’s not old enough for CRS (can’t remember shit) to really have set in.
I don’t want to go too far off topic and I’m not favoring either candidate, but have you seen Obama without the teleprompter? It’s not so much a case of ‘CRS’ but rather DKS (doesn’t know shit).
The guy keeps changing what he is for based on what audience he is speaking to.
Ummm..
In this case, he hasn’t. He’s always been a supporter of agribusiness and the track record is clear through his political career.
Aside: the cognitive dissonance on this story is awesome: the Socialist Worker, ratting out Barack Obama on the problem of fuel subsidies. I can see ideologues across the political spectrum having headaches.
I am voting Obama, despite some disagreements with him, only because anything I admired about McCain he has betrayed repeatedly. Obama is not as much a flip-flopper as someone who thinks about issues and realizes they aren’t black-and-white – he is a pragmatist and that is what this country needs right now (Bush being a neocon idealist).
The NY Times has a pretty interesting 8-page article about his views on the economy which is too fawning, but still worth reading, whether you are a fan or not.
Also, I think Obama’s plan to invest heavily in green technology is really the only hope that the American car industry has. They have shown themselves incompetent and myopic in viewpoint with their generally crappy products, and inability to come up with a plan and stick with it.
As far as ethanol goes, well, subsidies can go either to big farm or big oil in this election, and frankly they both suck.
As much as I don’t like E85, I have to admit…
E85 >> McCain (E85 much greater than McCain)
Besides, Obama’s from Illinois, known for Chicago and Farms. What did you expect.
While I don’t agree with Obama (on this position), can he win without this position? I don’t think most of America understands E85, subsidies, and who’s greasing who (or is it whom?).
There’s no way I could agree with any candidate on every position (short of me…I’m still thinking of writing in my own name).
I’m very afraid that today, if you don’t pander, you don’t win, and then you can’t help anyone. He needs those votes in the corn states.
Dynamic88: But I’m not looking forward to 4 more years of war, so I’m going to have to vote for him.
“The Afghan government needs to do more. But we have to understand that the situation is precarious and urgent here in Afghanistan. And I believe this has to be our central focus, the central front, on our battle against terrorism,” Obama said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
So, if we can believe a politician on the campaign trail, then we’ll have 4 more years of war in just Afghanistan vs split between Afghanistan and Iraq. Might be better strategy, but it’s still war.
There is not a spit’s worth of difference between Republicans and Democrats.
Tax dollars should not subsidize any private business.
Sleep well at night knowing you voted for candidates who support freedom, liberty, and peace, not kleptocracy.
Vote Libertarian
http://www.bobbarr2008.com
@ Tommy Jefferson:
Amen, brother
We had a taste of Libertarian work with Greenspan. That’s all I need to see.
@mel23:
That’s not exactly accurate. The more Libertarian stance is to go back to the gold standard so that government lackeys can’t manipulate the monetary systems and screw things up. IMO, the Greenspan situation just adds more fuel to the argument that the Federal Reserve does more harm than good.
Don’t listen to a word either McCain or Obama say – their words don’t mean jack. Simply look at what their record is and vote based on that.
Comparing flip flops is an exercise in futility, as is comparing who is bought by big oil and who by agribusiness. Who cares if ultimately it’s the consumer that gets bent over a bicycle rack. Food AND oil prices are through the roof.
The question really is who will do the least amount of damage in the four years they have to work with.
Good times…
Obama. Could he be any more useless?
Vote Alice Cooper ’08.
danms6 wrote —
I don’t want to go too far off topic and I’m not favoring either candidate, but have you seen Obama without the teleprompter? It’s not so much a case of ‘CRS’ but rather DKS (doesn’t know shit).
I would like to see a citation on this. I haven’t seen him without a teleprompter, but he had a great reputation as a professor at a top tier law school, where they use interaction with the students a lot. I don’t see that happening if he couldn’t think on his feet.
Obama is nothing new-he’s the classic hand-picked socialist frontman, designed to do exactly what he is doing, the Saul Alinsky ends-justifies-the-means cobra sway, entrancing all the wishful thinking idealists who still haven’t/refuse to come to terms with the reality of the world in which they live.. as well as the “ask what my country can do for me” crowd.
This E85 example is just one of plenty of pandering moments from this guy; he’s smart enough to know that E85 is no more of a savior than is he, but he’s hoping you’re not smart enough to figure that out. He’s counting on the starry-eyed simplicity of his acolytes. And that’s the type of “hope” he’s about-if you believe he’s really about “hope” and “change”, check out the state of Chicago politics under his tutelage.
McCain’s no savior-but, unlike with Obama, most of those voting for him realize that. And he’s got substance vs Obama’s mere imagery; though he’s far from perfect, I’ll take the seasoned veteran over the glittery crypto-marxist neophyte for a position of this magnitude. “Hoping” that the guy with 12 hours in the Cessna is the right stuff to take control of the Space Shuttle is a bit much.
kkt:you need a citation? Just look & listen a bit more closely, and decide for yourself if someone who’s campaigned in all 57 states is up to the task of facing down a Putin.. a leftist professor in his classroom is about as sterile an environment as can be had.