Schumer's Progress

Editorial of The New York Sun
January 15, 2008

Now that the Iowa caucuses are over, politicians can finally stop dancing around the issue of the ethanol tariff. Senator Schumer did exactly that on Sunday, calling, according to a report by the Associated Press, for a repeal of the 54-cent a gallon tax on imported ethanol. Mr. Schumer blames soaring demand for domestic ethanol for raising the price of corn used to feed cows, and for contributing to a 35% rise in the cost of milk in New York City. Or, to put it another way, the ethanol tariff turns out to be a dagger through the heart of the American consumer. "Reducing the pressure on the corn market is a quick, commonsense, way to bring down milk prices across the board without hurting our region's dairy farmers," the wire quoted Mr. Schumer as saying. It's a rare day when we find ourselves in agreement with Mr. Schumer, whose protectionist instinct has led these columns to refer to him as Smoot Schumer, but then again, it's a rare day when the senior senator from New York finds a tax he wants to repeal rather than increase. If Mr. Schumer can milk this issue and actually build a coalition in Washington to repeal the protectionist tariff, congratulations will be in order.