The $6 billion-a-year ethanol subsidy really will expire in a matter of days. But that may not spell the end of ethanol-based tax credits. Specifically, the $1.01-a-gallon production tax credit for cellulosic ethanol – made from switchgrass or wood chips or corn husks – is a priority for the renewable fuels industry. That production tax credit does not expire until next year, and the industry wants a five-year extension.

The next couple months will be consumed with discussion about the Catfood Commission II, and their efforts to reach a $1.5 trillion or higher deficit package. This will frustrate any attempt to pivot to jobs. But as long as that’s known, activists and organizations can point out best practices on that committee while trying to force the conversation in a different direction.

One way to do that is to consistently point out that job creation is the best and most robust way to ensure any deficit reduction, and that reducing the deficit with 9% unemployment is a near-impossibility. Another way is to point out how much deficit savings can be gained merely by engaging in the vitally necessary actions of protecting the earth from climate change.

The LA Times finds a nut and recognizes that, no matter what deal ultimately emerges from the debt limit talks, it’s going to be a Republican victory.

This amendment was added to a bill reauthorizing the Economic Development Administration. It’s unlikely that the bill will pass through the Senate, and even then it’s more unlikely that the House will take it up. It’s telling that Harry Reid used this vote in an attempt to revive passage of the EDA bill, on which he filed cloture today.

• Ron Paul still has the ability to raise lots of cash, especially if he rips Mitt Romney in the process.
• Frank Gaffney for President would be hysterical.

If Obama actually thinks there are wasteful discretionary programs, like ethanol subsidies and farm subsidies, he should just directly call for those programs to be eliminated. If ending a bunch of bad corporate welfare programs results in an overall cut in discretionary spending, that is good.

I think this could lead to the belief that the bill has become a Christmas tree. Harry Reid’s push to legalize online poker in the bill adds to that as well. And nothing will take down this bill faster than cries of “pork” and “the cornhusker kickback” (in this case, actually having to do with corn).

A statement from individuals across the ideological spectrum that there is simply no place in our federal budget for wasteful, ineffective spending that is basically just corporate welfare. This is what good trans-partisanship looks like. And it is remarkably rare.

Ethanol subsidies are up for renewal at the end of the year. And some prominent conservatives have pitched letting them expire, to the chagrin of farm-state Senators and establishment Republicans.