Newt Gingrich on ethanol? Et cetera ....

[Amelia]

Can we get past the personal scandals and talk about political positions which could catch up with Newt?

George Will (who made his standard disclaimer that Mrs. Will works for the Perry campaign) suggested that Gingrich has a whole lot of vulnerability on conservative issues.

For example:

"People think that his problem is his colorful personal life. He'll hope that people concentrate on that rather than, for example, ethanol. Al Gore has recanted ethanol. Not Newt Gingrich. Industrial policy of the sort that got us Solyndra, he's all for it. Freddie Mac, he says, hired him as a historian. He's not a historian."

and

"When the Bush administration was trying to pass an unfunded, large new entitlement -- grafting a prescription drug entitlement onto medicare, who was out there saluting this as part of his service, I think, for Big Pharma," Will said. "[Gingrich] denounces the Ryan budget as right-wing social engineering. He sits down to talk about climate change and cap and trade with Nancy Pelosi and others. The list goes on."

... as quoted at HuffPo.

Newt Gingrich Is 'The Classic Rental Politician,' George Will Says



Now that Gingrich is pulling ahead and getting more media attention, what "new" things are going to come out? Maybe not new to you, but unfamiliar to people like me who had once written Newt off but who recently took another look at him and were impressed by how capable a communicator he is. Will those "new" details make a difference to the campaign?

 

[Toro]

There are some things which should make conservatives blanch.

Gingrich was paid nearly $2 million by Freddie Mac.

Gingrich Said to Be Paid About $1.6 Million by Freddie Mac - Bloomberg

If you think Freddie paid Newt a boatload of money so they could listen to him tell them how wrong they were, I've got a bridge to sell you.

And remember that he called potential changes to Medicare as "right-wing social engineering."

Gingrich calls Medicare voucher proposal ‘right-wing social engineering’ - The Washington Post

These are legitimate issues.

Maybe he's trying to win the liberal vote too ...

 

[Amelia]

Here are a coupla links on ethanol.

February: Newt Answers Critics Over Ethanol Comments « Hot Air

April: Newt Still Battling Lobbying / Ethanol Tales « Hot Air

I'm so out of the political blogosphere, that I don't know if Hot Air is right or left or neither. But eneeway, the links have some more links. And it's more information than I knew this morning when Will brought the subject up.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Well, ethanol is part of the fuel that runs our country today, so theres nothing wrong with promoting it. Not the best fuel, but is being used. I've got no problem with newt, for having this opinion.

 

[waltky]

Ethanol producers crowdin' out feed grains which contributes to higher food prices...

Livestock Farmers Say Ethanol Consumes Too Much Corn
November 23, 2011 — Livestock farmers are demanding a change in the nation's ethanol policy, claiming current rules could lead to spikes in meat prices and even shortages at supermarkets if corn growers have a bad year.

The amount of corn consumed by the ethanol industry combined with continued demand from overseas has cattle and hog farmers worried that if corn production drops due to drought or another natural disaster, the cost of feed could skyrocket, leaving them little choice but to reduce the size of their herds. A smaller supply could, in turn, mean higher meat prices and less selection at the grocery store. The ethanol industry argues such scenarios are unlikely, but farmers have the backing of food manufacturers, who also fear that a federal mandate to increase production of ethanol will protect that industry from any kind of rationing amid a corn shortage.

The subject of debate is the Renewable Fuel Standard, a 2005 law requiring the nation to produce 7.5 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2012. The standard was changed in 2007 to gradually increase the requirement to 36 billion gallons by 2022. While a $5 billion-a-year federal ethanol subsidy is scheduled to expire this year, the production requirement will remain, unless it's changed by Congress. That has other corn consumers worried that if production falls and rationing is needed, ethanol companies will be exempt. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently reduced its estimate of this year's corn crop because of flooding in the Midwest and drought in the southern plains, and corn reserves are expected to fall to a 20-day supply next year. A 30-day supply is considered healthy.

At the same time, the price of corn for livestock feed has risen from an average of just over $3 a bushel in 2006-07 to an average of more than $6 this year. "If we get a short crop, the ethanol industry does not participate in rationing and the brunt will fall on livestock and poultry," said Steve Meyer, president of Paragon Economics, a livestock and grain marketing and economic advisory company in Adel, Iowa. A bill introduced last month by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., would partially waive the ethanol goals when corn inventories are low.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents more than 300 food and beverage makers, also has endorsed the bill. "We're behind livestock producers on this issue," said Geoff Moody, the association's director of energy and environmental policy. "We believe if there is a need to ration that ethanol will eat first because of the mandate." About 5.9 billion bushels of corn were used for animal feed last year; 2.4 billion were exported; and about 4.9 billion were used for ethanol, up from about 630 million bushels in 2000, according to the National Corn Growers Association. About 1 billion bushels were eaten by humans in products such as cereal, sweeteners, and beverages.

MORE