Ethanol is produced by distilling corn into alcohol. It can also be mixed with gasoline to make gasohol - a fourth-rate fuel and magnet for government subsidies. Promises to eliminate the program from the federal budget are being abandoned as the prime corporate beneficiary - the Archer Daniels Midland company - flexes its lobbying muscles.

• Producers have received de facto subsidies of roughly $10 billion since 1980.

• Subsidies cost the federal government $770 million a year in direct revenue losses.

• These could rise to $1 billion by the year 2000.

• State subsidies and revenue losses amount to several hundred million dollars each year.

• Because ethanol production drives up corn prices, it is estimated that the added cost for livestock producers is more than $1 billion a year - eventually paid by consumers.

• Byproducts from ethanol production compete with soybeans, which are largely unsubsidized, costing soybean farmers some $300 million per year.

There is considerable evidence that gasohol poses a risk to the environment. What's more, it costs more energy to produce than it generates as a vehicle fuel.

The Clinton Administration has repeatedly tried to convince gasoline companies to greatly increase additions of gasohol to motor fuel. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senator Robert Dole are beneficiaries of large Archer Daniels Midland political contributions and supporters of the ethanol program.