6^th INSTALLMENT OF “MCCAIN VS. IOWA” FOCUSES ON IOWA’S ECONOMY AND JOBS

Des Moines – Today, the Iowa Democratic Party released the 6^th installment of the popular “McCain vs. Iowa” series with a new video focusing on Iowa’s economy and job creation.  

During the first presidential debate last week, Senator John McCain said ethanol subsidies would be the first thing he’d cut if elected President.  Biofuels have added 10% to Iowa’s 2007 GDP and have supported the creation of more than 96,000 Iowa jobs throughout the state.

Obviously, Iowans, even Iowa REPUBLICANS, have strongly disagreed with Senator McCain’s attack on Iowa’s economy. 

The focus of this installment of www.mccainvsiowa.com is to highlight the difference between Senator McCain and Iowa Republicans on this issue critical to the future of Iowa’s economy.

TESTIMONY FROM IOWA REPUBLICANS:

• U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley:  While McCain has called for no subsidies for ethanol, he has also said he is “against shipping more money overseas” through oil purchases.  “You can't have it both ways,” Grassley said.  “If you want a new industry, it is going to take some government incentives to get it started.”  The oil industry started with subsidies, Grassley said, “and those subsidies are still in place.” [DTN Progressive Farmer, 9/10/08]

• Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey:  “Senator McCain said he'd oppose ethanol subsidies. He's said that many times. I'd certainly vehemently disagree with him as far as whether that policy makes sense or not.” [Radio Iowa, 9/29/08]

• Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey:  “Certainly, I think Obama has been saying the right things as far as making the industry confident that he would support ethanol and that it will grow.”  [Successful Farming, 9/9/08]

• Carroll County Attorney John Werden:  “People understand that an infant industry subsidy is very difficult to ever repeal even after the industry should stand on its own merits.  I agree that McCain’s ethanol stance may hurt him somewhat in Iowa. He needs to explain why it is that ethanol should no longer be subsidized with gas over 3 bucks a gallon.” [Iowa Independent, 9/26/08]
  
  

  NEW IDP VIDEO – “McCain vs. Iowa Republicans”
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CdChaieg98

  MCCAIN:  First of all, by the way, I’d eliminate ethanol subsidies.  I oppose ethanol subsidies.

  TEXT:  Friends of the victim

  GRASSLEY:  I mean, we got Iowa State University saying that energy for your car is 30 or 40 cents less than it would be if we didn’t have the ethanol industry.

  NORTHEY:  Right now, ethanol in the country is nine billion gallons of supply.  We need that supply in these times of high prices.  And it’s actually saving consumers at the pump right now 30 to 40 to 50 cents a gallon because we have ethanol.

  TEXT:  Possible Motive

  GRASSLEY:  I think you—if you look behind the scenes, I think you’d find Big Oil promoting a lot of this ignorance about corn and ethanol.

  TEXT:  43 advisors and fundraisers lobbied for BIG OIL

  TEXT:  $1.6 million in donations from BIG OIL

  TEXT:  $3.8 billion in tax breaks for BIG OIL

  TEXT:  VERDICT:  GUILTY

  TEXT:  John McCain intends to kill Iowa biofuels…We will lose 100,000 good jobs.  We can’t afford more of the same.

  TEXT:  McCAIN vs IOWA www.mccainvsiowa.com