From Reuters, Eunju Lie writes: "Anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist has made a career out of opposing taxes and subsidies, and the ethanol tax credit is no exception. Since he founded Americans for Tax Reform in 1985 at the behest of then president Ronald Reagan, Norquist has fought against taxes at the federal, state and local levels. 'Americans for Tax Reform and the overwhelmingly majority of the conservative movement support full repeal of the ethanol mandate, ethanol tariff, and the ethanol tax credit,' the organization said on its website. While Norquist and his allies failed to eliminate or modify the ethanol tax credit in a Senate vote on Tuesday, they served notice that it will not give up."
Andrew Stiles, writing for National Review Online, with a piece on the Norquist-Coburn feud: "Coburn’s amendment eliminated tax breaks for the ethanol industry but did not include any offsetting tax cuts. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that his proposal would raise $2.4 billion in new tax revenue over the remainder of the year, which Coburn intended to put toward reducing the deficit. Norquist, therefore, denounced the amendment as a violation of the pledge. The vote failed, 40 to 59, well short of the 60 needed for cloture, but the fact that 34 Republicans supported the amendment raised eyebrows on Capitol Hill as perhaps a sign that Norquist and his pledge have lost clout in the GOP conference. Coburn certainly touted it as such. 'That’s 34 Republicans who are willing to say this is more important than a signed pledge to ATR,' he told reporters after the vote. 'I think you all think [Norquist] has a whole lot more hold than I think he has.' Then, in a follow up statement, he added: 'Taxpayers should be encouraged that Republican senators overwhelmingly rejected the ludicrous argument that eliminating tax earmarks is a tax increase.' Norquist vociferously denies this charge, pointing out that ATR gave senators the go ahead to vote yes on Coburn’s measure provided they also agreed to support an amendment by Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.) that would have made up for the lost tax credit by eliminating the inheritance tax. There has been no vote on that measure yet, and it’s not clear when or if a vote will happen, but most Republicans have voiced support. 'No one violated the pledge,' Norquist said. 'Nobody followed Coburn over the cliff.'"