The political war over $5 billion to $6 billion in federal tax supports for corn-based ethanol is about to take a dramatic turn. Biofuel now takes center stage for the elimination of one-off tax supports for industries deemed "mature" enough to operate without Uncle Sam's help, thus contributing to trying to fill the deep chasm that is the federal deficit.In broad macroeconomic terms, using food/feed grade corn to fill citizens' gas tanks and not their stomachs is blamed by livestock and poultry production for the dramatic runup in feed costs and supermarket prices for meat, poultry and dairy. It's routine these days to hear pro-ethanol politicians, while denying corn-based ethanol's role in rising food inflation, to counsel the marketplace to "get used" to $6 to $8/ bushel corn; it's "the new normal," they say.
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