McCain and Obama on ethanol subsidies and tariffs

Where is this going? I'm with McCain on this, so far. But it's always worrying to see political candidates engaging on fuel subsidies. The moral danger alert swings to the farthest end of the spectrum.

"'We made a series of mistakes by not adopting a sustainable energy policy, one of which is the subsidies for corn ethanol, which I warned in Iowa were going to destroy the market” and contribute to inflation, Mr. McCain said this month in an interview with a Brazilian newspaper, O Estado de São Paulo. “Besides, it is wrong,” he added, to tax Brazilian-made sugar cane ethanol, “which is much more efficient than corn ethanol.”

Mr. Obama, in contrast, favors the subsidies, some of which end up in the hands of the same oil companies he says should be subjected to a windfall profits tax. In the name of helping the United States build “energy independence,” he also supports the tariff, which some economists say may well be illegal under the World Trade Organization’s rules but which his advisers say is not." extract from NY Times

Here's a brief, balanced primer from the NYT on U.S. taxes and subsidies on ethanol.