The USDA told us this morning that national corn production will be down 13 percent this year.
Thanks to the worst drought to hit the Corn Belt since 1956, corn prices are now expected to climb as much as 85 percent this year. And that means your food bill is about to climb, too. Everything from beef to cereal is going to cost you more.
But it doesn’t have to.
Although the drought has wreaked havoc on the nations corn crop, there’s a pretty simple solution to keeping food prices from soaring. But it’s one that won’t be pursued because your government is run by a bunch of greedy bureaucrats who would rather jack up the price of food than stop filling your tank with corn ethanol.
It’s one of the biggest frauds ever to come out of Washington. Corn ethanol – a biofuel that takes more energy to produce than it delivers, has been forced into our gas tanks thanks to a renewable fuel mandate.
The whole thing was a scam from day one. But it’s here, and we’ve just chalked it up to one more way the government can rip us off. But earlier this week, a few level heads in Washington requested the EPA reduce the corn ethanol mandate to help cushion the nation against the effects of this drought. Being that 40 percent of the corn we now grow ends up in your gas tank, logic dictates we siphon some of that ethanol feed stock and use to feed people.
I know, what a concept!
But logic and common sense have no place in Washington. And that’s why Obama and a bunch of lawmakers from the Corn Belt aren’t budging. Instead, they’re reassuring stupid people that temporarily reducing the ethanol mandate isn’t necessary – and we’ll be just fine.
So enjoy that $10 hamburger next month. I mean really enjoy it. Savor it. Because the government doesn’t give a rat’s ass that its ethanol snow job is going to make it even harder for you to feed your family.
The way I see it, Obama and all his senatorial sheep are stealing food from us. And I’m not OK with that!