US Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack yesterday urged members of Congress to reinstate the biodiesel tax credit and extend the ethanol tax credit.  According to Sec. Vilsack, the ethanol tax credit, which costs taxpayers more than $5 billion a year, is still needed since “this industry needs more time to mature and more investments to grow.”

It’s ridiculous to think that after decades of taxpayer-backed support the ethanol industry STILL needs its subsidies!  The industry was old enough to drink nearly ten years ago, it’s time to kick this “maturing” industry out of the taxpayer’s house.  Besides, the government already has a mandate for ethanol use – 15 billion gallons by 2015. According to the Congressional Research Service, the subsidies are irrelevant, the mandate is driving usage. So all we are doing is lining the industry’s pockets, not promoting production.

On top of the ethanol industry’s long history of swigging subsidies , Secretary Vilsack also announced that the USDA is actively seeking changes to its federal loan guarantee programs to help build out infrastructure and pipelines in support of the ethanol industry.  Loan guarantees, as we have previously seen with the Department of Energy , burden taxpayers with enormous risks in order to attract private industry investment.  Continuing to saturate taxpayers in ethanol subsidies at a time of record high deficits and a $13 trillion debt does not make fiscal common sense.  What does make sense is for the ethanol industry to finally stand on its own two feet without requesting another cent from the taxpayer.