While Tim Pawlenty’s call in Iowa for an end to ethanol subsides is making waves, Mitt Romney said today that he supports ethanol subsides.
Talking to an Iowa voter, Romney said, “I support the subsidy of ethanol. I believe ethanol is an important part of our energy solution for this country.”
Romney held the same position in 2008.
In Iowa, Romney also refused to say whether he’d vote for the Ryan plan or not. From the Washington Post:
Romney declined to say whether, if he were president, he would sign into law the GOP Medicare plan authored by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) — something that a rival, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, said Thursday he would do.
“That’s the kind of speculation that is getting the cart ahead of the horse,” Romney told reporters. “I’m going to propose my own plan, and my plan will be somewhat different than what the Paul Ryan plan is, but I support the objectives of the Paul Ryan plan, which is keeping Medicare alive, keeping it solvent and keeping the nation solvent.”
Right now, the candidates are all over the map on the Ryan plan. Jon Huntsman has said he would have voted for it. Pawlenty will sign the Ryan plan into law, if his own plan doesn’t pass Congress, but would prefer to implement his own. Rick Santorum blasted the Senate yesterday for not passing Ryan’s budget. Herman Cain is also a fan of the Ryan budget.