The months leading up to a presidential primary, presidential candidates always spend about half their time crisscrossing Iowa to promise every Iowan in every meeting hall that they will continue to support the federal government mandate that forces oil companies to buy billions of dollars worth of corn-based ethanol. The ethanol mandate costs the taxpayers a bundle, hurts the environment, and raises food prices worldwide, as various studies have shown. So why do we still have it?

The ethanol mandate is a good example of Fuller’s Law: When government controls something, the decisions are made politically.
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