He said it was because ethanol helped curb air pollution that he championed federal support. Maybe Bush believes this. Maybe he doesn't know that it's to win votes in the Midwest and to win campaign contributions from Archer Daniels Midland that the White House and members of both parties in Congress continue to fund the ethanol program. It is in fact one corporate-welfare program among many that could be tossed for the sake of reduced federal spending and lower taxes or to find money for truly worthwhile programs. At a time when politicians are wringing their hands over the recent rise of gasoline prices to their historically normal levels, the government thinks that sugar prices are just too low.
Low prices hurt large sugar producers in Texas, Florida and Louisiana.
Read the rest of the story . A nutty idea lives on. Politicians refuse to end Depression-era quotas that control the domestic supply of peanuts and protect peanut producers' incomes. Time Magazine's Barlett and Steele examine agribusiness on the dole .