NO NO NO: Ted Cruz is NOT flip-flopping on ethanol

Ted Cruz’s critics are doing everything they can to try and hurt him among voters in Iowa, even if it means accusing him of flip-flopping when that’s absolutely not the case.

America’s Renewable Future has a new post titled “Senator Ted Cruz Listens to Iowa Farmers, Supports Renewable Fuel Standard Through 2022”.

In that post they play audio of Ted Cruz answering a question about ending ethanol subsidies, where he said he supports a 5 year phase out of the subsidy. People have done the math starting at 2017 and concluded that the subsidy would remain until 2022.

Here’s the audio:

[wpvideo kV9G2CwQ w=755]

Of course, his critics are now saying that Cruz is pandering, that he’s gone soft, even flip-flopped on ethanol in order to get the Iowa vote. But this is simply not the case. Once again, Amanda Carpenter steps in to explain that Cruz’s support for a 5-year phase out is simply nothing new:

Here’s a screenshot from the bill that Carpenter references of the phase out (click to enlarge):

 
Even liberal reporter Dave Weigel is flummoxed by those alleging that Cruz is flip-flopping:

There are some saying Cruz has supported immediate repeal in the past and Carpenter says that’s true. But in his own bill, she points out, he supported the 5-year phase out.

She sums it up this way:

As she says, the point is that Cruz wants to end the subsidy. He doesn’t support full RFS until 2022 as some would have you believe. In fact by 2021 or 2022, the subsidy would be only 20% of what it is now. And then it would be completely gone the next year.

No flip-flopping here. But don’t let that stop his rivals from smearing him anyway: