First, let’s look at the Obama corn plan. We use over 40% of our corn for ethanol. China will will buy as much corn as they can from the US. China ordered 21 million bushels of US corn in one order in July. The total for China is estimated to be as much as 200 million bushels. All of this drives up the price of corn for US consumers.
The biggest benefactor of US ethanol subsidies, Archer Daniels Midland, will build a shuttle-loading elevator near St. Cloud, Minn. It will load trains of 110 cars. A port terminal in Washington state will be built to load ocean ships with grain.
China is concerned that the demand for corn in China, combined with higher import prices, will drive up corn prices and penalize consumers. What did China do? They stopped construction on factories that would covert corn into ethanol.
What does the Obama administration do? They raise the ante for the amount of ethanol that will be mandated for cars. Plus, they continue the ethanol subsidies that go directly into the pockets of ethanol producers and come from the pockets of US corn consumers, including the poor.
One country pays attention to the big things like hunger, better lifestyles for citizens, and inflation.
The other country pays attention to other things, like the clout of Archer Daniels Midland, lobbyist for corporate farms, and the environmental vote.
Since cities found politicians can’t run anything they hired city managers to do the real work of running the city’s business. Maybe it’s time we have a country manger like the Chinese have.
