Eric Bejarano, Chapter 8, Question #6

I found Wheelan's discussion of economics (especially subsidies) and their role in politics. Although science suggests that the benefits of ethanol are minimal at best, politicians still vote to subsidize ethanol (corn). Each year 7 billion dollars are payed out to encourage the production of ethanol. This money is distributed to farmers across the country and help them immensely;however, the impact to the rest of the country (taxpayers) isn't even noticed. In this situation politicians recognize that they will win over thousands of farmers and not loose many right wing voters because taxes will be raised but very minimally. Knowing what I now know it will be interesting to see what the presidential candidates will say about subsidies. Wheelan goes on to highlight the fact that politicians from both parties generally need to appeal to quite a few different interest groups in order to be elected. This is a testament to the political power held by lobbyists and various other groups.