The Power of King Corn

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, recently hinted at scaling back the onerous ethanol mandate associated within the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). This news prompted Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to threaten that, should Pruitt pursue scaling back the mandate, Donald Trump’s EPA nominees would essentially be prevented from receiving confirmation. An example of cronyism at its worst.

It’s tough to drain the swamp when politicians are more concerned with protecting the special interests of their big money donors than the freedoms of the constituents who have elected them. The ethanol mandate has been a boon for King Corn but little more than troublesome for everyone else, including the environment (which the RFS was ostensibly created to protect). In short, the ethanol mandate is one of the nation’s biggest boondoggles.

But Grassley’s threat was also a veiled threat aimed at Trump’s judicial nominees. As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Grassley can effectively sideline any vote on nominees. Grassley has put the squeeze on Trump, and Trump responded. .

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