Sen. Coburn Forces Ethanol Vote

[Frodo]

Vote is to be held on June 14 -and does anyone think it will make it to President Obama's desk?
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Tom Coburn forces Tuesday ethanol vote

By DARREN GOODE | 6/9/11 8:41 PM EDT Updated: 6/10/11 11:13 AM EDT

Sen. Tom Coburn has pulled the trigger and is forcing a long-sought vote on an amendment repealing billions in annual tax incentives for ethanol.

The Senate will vote Tuesday afternoon on Coburn’s motion limiting debate on his amendment that would do away with the 45 cent blender tax credit for ethanol — worth about $6 billion this year — and the 54 cent tariff on imported ethanol.

Coburn didn’t inform either Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid or Minority Leader Mitch McConnell before he made his move, appearing to catch both completely off guard.

“He was not able to give a heads up to either Reid or McConnell,” Coburn spokesman John Hart said. “There was no agreement. Coburn just did this.”

It is the prerogative of any senator to file a cloture motion to file a vote on an amendment as long as there are 16 signatures. But it is more customary for senators to force a vote by filing a motion to suspend the rules — which requires a higher 67-vote threshold than the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.

The Oklahoma Republican has had exactly 16 signatures — all Republican — lined up for a cloture vote on his amendment in his back pocket for a while and thought of using it earlier.

Read more:  http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/56669.html#ixzz1P5ry7Q9z

[Frodo]

Vote failed 40:59, but another is going to be held next Friday:

Senate keeps ethanol subsidies

By DARREN GOODE | 6/14/11 4:03 PM EDT

The Senate on Tuesday rejected, 40-59, a symbolic attempt to strike ethanol tax subsidies as Democrats are working on a deal to hold at least one vote on ethanol next week.

The amendment from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) fell well short of the necessary 60 votes to invoke cloture and limit debate. Five Democrats supported the amendment and 12 Republican ethanol backers, largely from the Midwest, opposed it.

Coburn’s amendment would have repealed a 45-cent-per-gallon tax credit to blend ethanol in gasoline that is set to expire at the end of the year. It is estimated that the tax credit would be worth upward of $6 billion if it were to continue the whole year. The amendment also would have repealed a 54-cent-per-gallon tariff on ethanol imports.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters this afternoon he will hold an ethanol vote by June 24 as part of a deal with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who had initially co-sponsored Coburn’s amendment.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/56969.html#ixzz1PI7upTrx