Ethanol - Do we want it more than beef?

Back in 2000, I owned a GMC Sonoma. When I was reading the owner's manual, I was stunned to find that it could run off either Gasoline or E-85 ethanol. It is still seven years later, and I have yet to see a gas station selling ethanol in my area, which is upstate New York. It turns out that by selling vehicles capable of running with E-85, GM could sell more vehicles with low gas mileage. Finally, with outrageous fuel prices, the Government is slowly pushing for the use of ethanol. So what did this new push accomplish?

With the decreasing supply of corn and increased demand, corn prices are going up. So what? My grilled corn on the cob is going to cost more this year? Well, that is not all that will go up. Many of our farm animals are fed corn as a part of their diets. That means that meat, eggs, milk, and all sorts of other products will be going up.

Meanwhile we are still giving farmers subsidies. This can go as far as to pay farmers not to farm. Why can't we encourage these non-farming farmers to raise more corn? When the push for ethanol began, I though that perhaps the struggling farmers would have a new glimmer of hope. I guess I was naive to think that bureaucratic non-sense would not get in the way of that...