I just noticed this truly astounding excerpt from the New York Times piece on the food crisis:

Representative Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts, said he had come to realize that Congress made a mistake in backing biofuels, not anticipating the impact on food costs. He said Congress needed to reconsider its policy, though he acknowledged that would be difficult.

“If there was a secret vote, there is a pretty large number of people who would like to reassess what we are doing,” he said.

They made a mistake in not "anticipating" the impact on food prices? They would fix it only in a "secret vote?" Is this for real?

What does it tell us?

First, it tells us that Congressmen must take a mandatory economics class before being inaugurated. He didn't anticipate the rising food costs? What did he think would happen when you take land away from food production? This is a classic - just classic - example of Congressmen's complete disregard for the concept of unintended consequences, and for the fact that government meddling can only help something by hurting something else even more.

Second, the fact that Congressmen would behave differently if there was a "secret vote" is purely a demonstration of how corrupt and nauseating some of these people are.

Third, it reflects poorly on us, the American people, who keep putting these people in office year after year.