Government Meddling Raises Corn, Meat & Gas Prices
President Obama is once again trying to use smoke and mirrors to hide another misguided attempt that the government forced down our collective throats in an attempt to be more "environmentally friendly" and to escape our dependence on foreign oil: the much hated ethanol mandate.
The EPA-enforced Renewable Fuel Standard requires about 15 billion gallons of ethanol, most of which is derived from corn, to be blended into gasoline this year. About 40% of the U.S. corn crop will go into ethanol production this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has said.
This mandate, combined with the current drought is having massive repercussions. In a speech in rural Iowa, Obama promised that the government would spend our tax money to buy up livestock that are being slaughtered due to the drought effecting corn crops. Most livestock depends on corn as its main source of food, and as corn shortages rise due to the drought, farmers are forced to slaughter animals for sale when they can't afford the corn to feed them. The government will spend $100 million on pork, $50 million on chicken and $20 million on lamb and catfish. Of course, the farmers wouldn't need this help if the government wasn't artificially inflating the cost and scarcity of corn through it's forced use of ethanol, a fuel that has already been debunked both economically (1) (2) and ecologically. So our government, in yet another shortsighted move is pushing a fuel that has no hope of helping our domestic fuel situation, and is pushing up the costs of corn, which then translates into higher meat and gas prices, as every single gallon of gasoline is required by law to include 15% ethanol.Oh, btw, Obama also falsely claims that the purchasing of this livestock will somehow keep costs low for consumers.
"Prices are low, farmers and ranchers need help, so it makes sense," Obama explained. "It makes sense for farmers who get to sell more of their product, and it makes sense for taxpayers who will save money because we're getting food we would have bought anyway at a better price."
What? How does buying up low-cost food staples, that are being sold into consumer markets possibly help keep costs down? Government buying up product only makes it scarcer and drives up the price. That's simple supply/demand. And now the government has that product instead of the consumer, who will feel the crunch next year when the meat products will be far more expensive due to the shortage caused by the early slaughter of herds in 2012. How the government expects us to believe this utter horse**** is beyond me. I can't and won't believe that the American public is stupid enough to accept what Obama is desperately trying to feed us.Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!
