Yesterday, U.S. Senator Charles Grassley sent a letter to C. Manly Molpus, Scott Faber’s boss at GMA, demanding that food companies lower their prices in response to falling commodities.  Grassley took issue with some of Faber’s comments, especially his public admission that anti-ethanol campaign was launched by GMA to “protect the bottom line of grocery manufacturers and processors.”

It’s not too often that US Senators call out lobbyists (to their new bosses), by name, especially for saying something so ill-advised.

In another embarrassing moment for the Grocery Manufacturers of America’s Smear Campaign Against Ethanol, the New York Times today has a story questioning former USDA chief economist Keith Collins new role as an anti-ethanol flack for KRAFT.  The Times questions Collins’ change of heart on ethanol.

“Until January, Keith Collins was the longtime and widely respected chief economist for the Department of Agriculture. In that position, he was a frequent booster of government policies that encouraged biofuel production.”

“In the months after his departure, he was hired by Kraft Foods Global to analyze the impact of biofuels on food prices. He delivered a stunning, and unexpected, roundhouse to his former employers.”

Collins says he does not think he is part of any anti-ethanol campaign and that he is not a “third-party validator” as discussed in the Glover Park memo exposed by Roll Call, which outlined the framework of GMA’s Smear Campaign.

“Mr. Collins said he didn’t believe his hiring was part of an anti-ethanol campaign. Instead, he said, he was simply asked by Kraft Foods for his thoughts on biofuels’ impact, and he ultimately wrote those up in a 34-page paper.”

Yeah, sure Keith.