The answer is corn, which makes ethanol, which leads me to my post, which suggests that gubernatorial candidate Sarah Steelman was listening to the Show-Me Institute …

Yesterday, Steelman held a press conference calling for an end to the notoriously bad ethanol mandate. She cited the mandate as one of the reasons that food and gas prices are at all-time highs, and that it must be repealed because of these unintended consequences. As many of you know, the Show-Me Institute recently produced a case study highlighting the negative effects of the mandate and its cost to Missourians. Initially, Steelman supported the mandate, but thanks to our study (at least, I’d like to think so) Steelman is among the growing list of officials who realize that the mandate was a mistake and have lobbied for its repeal.

Although our study does not focus on food prices, this effect is mentioned — along with the additional taxpayer costs that government subsidies bring. I commend Ms. Steelman for recognizing that the ethanol mandate is a bad deal for taxpayers, and I hope that her fellow politicians follow suit.

The failure of this regulation provides further evidence that such mandates are almost never a good deal for taxpayers, and shouldn’t be implemented in the first place. However, that’s a broader topic for a different day.