DES MOINES, Iowa – Some of Chuck Grassley’s strongest financial supporters aren’t exactly strong supporters of the Iowa economy. Recent campaign finance reports show Grassley received numerous donations from anti-ethanol activists, many from the powerful oil industry, during a recent fundraising swing in Texas.
For years, a number of the Texas donors who made contributions around October fundraisers for Grassley have written against the renewable fuel standard.
Cary Maguire, who gave $2,500 to Grassley, founded the Maguire Energy Institute, which has advocated against the Renewable Fuel Standard. In August, the Institute’s associate director wrote, “But special interests aside, the economic benefits to businesses and consumers from repeal or modification of the Renewable Fuel Standard will far outweigh any costs to farmers, who are currently enjoying record profits, while helping to keep gasoline and diesel prices at their current levels.” [Investor’s Business Daily, 8/26/16]
Kyle Stallings, an oil and gas investor, gave Grassley $2,500 – nearly the federal limit. Recently, Stallings wrote, “the establishment also wanted the continued flow of funny money from Washington to subsidize ethanol, sugar, wind, solar, and a myriad of other schemes that aren’t viable without subsidies.” [“Liberty or Bondage,” 2/26/16]
Three Grassley donors, Mayes Middleton ($2,500 donor), Kyle Stallings ($2,500 donor), and Windi Grimes ($1,667 donor), serve on the board of directors for the anti-ethanol Texas Public Policy Foundation. A policy analyst for the foundation wrote, “Ethanol has long been considered a textbook example of government energy mandates gone wrong.” [Marketwatch, 7/16/13, Saved to Texas Public Policy Foundation Website].
Additionally a vice president of the foundation wrote “a dozen government policies cost the typical American family $4,440 per year. These costly policies include the ethanol mandate for fuel, vehicle mileage standards, and sugar import quotas at the federal level. At the state and local levels, it includes occupational licensing rules, auto dealership monopolies, renewable energy mandates, and land-use regulation.” [Austin American-Statesman, 12/14/15, Saved to Texas Public Policy Foundation Website].
“This is the latest example of how Chuck Grassley has changed,” said Patty Judge Spokesperson Sam Roecker. “Ethanol is good for the economy, our environment, and it supports working families here in Iowa. Chuck Grassley cozying up to anti-ethanol oil executives and activists makes it clear that he can no longer be trusted to represent what is best for our state in Washington. While Chuck Grassley rushes to raise money and fund his negative attack ads, Patty Judge has been focused on speaking with Iowans about her vision for an economy where everyone can succeed.”
