Ethanol Deal Controversial

Published August 1, 2005

In a July 3 column in the Chicago Sun-Times, syndicated columnist Robert Novak reported the CAFTA agreement won Senate approval after closed-door briefings by Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns, who explained the government planned to buy sugar to manufacture ethanol.

Some senators complained about that plan.

“That’s adding a super-boondoggle to a boondoggle,” Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), a critic of both sugar and ethanol subsidies, told Novak.

“This move is intended to harness two powerful lobbies on behalf of CAFTA, but sugar lobbyists say they are still opposed,” Novak reported.

— John W. Skorburg