Object

Ethanol Tax Credit (Legislative Provision)

A legislative provision embodied on stapled policy pages and briefing memos: typed language describing a federal ethanol tax credit, scrawled with aide annotations and political tallies, highlighted with claims of 16,000 jobs and $4 billion in investment. Staff ferry the pages between Leo and Bartlet, slam them onto tables, and use the text as the concrete stake around which phone calls, bargaining, and personal reckonings spin.

7 appearances

Purpose

To establish a federal tax credit designed to incentivize ethanol production/use, spur private investment and job creation (cited figures: 16,000 jobs; $4 billion), and thereby shape energy and agricultural economic policy.

Significance

Functions as the episode's central policy object and dramatic catalyst: its 50–50 Senate standing forces a tie‑break political crisis, exposes messaging failures, ruptures trust between the White House and Vice President Hoynes, and ultimately becomes the sacrificial policy the administration abandons to protect institutional and personal reputations.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

7 moments

S1E16 · 20 Hours in L.A.

Bartlet's Resolve: Politics vs. Paternal Fear

Referenced obliquely as the policy stake — the ethanol tax credit — that has turned into a 50–50 Senate tie. Its presence in dialogue converts a technical vote into the political pressure framing Bartlet's travel and choices.

Before: Active legislative item under vote, framed as the pivot of current Senate arithmetic.

After: Still active and unresolved; the conversation underscores it as the cause of the tight political circumstances pressing the President.

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S1E16 · 20 Hours in L.A.

Leo Owns the Messaging Failure

The Ethanol Tax Credit functions as the substantive axis of the exchange: staff cite its 20% Iowa corn-account and 16,000 jobs to lament that the campaign never emphasized those tangible benefits, turning abstract policy into the concrete casualty of poor messaging.

Before: Existing as briefing memos and talking points circulating among staff; a known but underemphasized policy achievement.

After: Remains the contested policy object but is newly framed as the central argument to mobilize support; its political profile has been reasserted as urgent talking points.

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S1E16 · 20 Hours in L.A.

Small Losses, Big Pressure — Leo Reassures Margaret; Sam Calls

Stapled policy pages (the Ethanol Tax Credit documentation) serve as the physical work Leo signs while Margaret presents them; they anchor the earlier policy conversation about jobs and Iowa and embody the tangible administrative tasks that interrupt personal moments.

Before: On Margaret's hands/desk, prepared for Leo's signature; annotated with job and investment claims.

After: Signed by Leo and left on the desk, their administrative completion juxtaposed against the political urgency that follows.

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S1E16 · 20 Hours in L.A.

Hoynes Holds: Deadlocked Senate and the Unwilling Tie-Breaker

The ethanol tax credit functions as the disputed object around which the argument orbits: Leo cites its claimed benefits (16,000 jobs, $4 billion investment) as justification; Hoynes rebuts with policy critique, making the credit both the substantive stake and the symbolic test of administrative authority.

Before: Referenced in briefing papers on Leo's desk and the subject of earlier outreach to senators.

After: Remains the central contested policy; its fate unresolved as Hoynes refuses to act, increasing political exposure for the administration.

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S1E16 · 20 Hours in L.A.

The Tie He Won't Cast

The ethanol tax credit functions as the tangible stake around which the argument turns: Leo cites its economic case (16,000 jobs; $4 billion invested) to persuade Hoynes, while Hoynes counters with technical and strategic critiques. The policy paper is the reason for the request and the metric of what the administration risks losing.

Before: Presented in briefing papers on Leo's desk, being reviewed and used as talking points to make the case to the Vice President.

After: Remains contested and unresolved; still the central policy stake after Hoynes' refusal, shifting the problem back to Leo and the President.

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S1E16 · 20 Hours in L.A.

Midnight Ultimatum — Dump the Bill, Take the Shot at Hoynes

The ethanol tax credit briefing pages operate as the factual pivot of the argument: Leo cites it to correct the President's position, turning abstract presidential anger into a concrete error that forces a tactical reversal and change of course.

Before: In the White House's policy materials and staff briefing memory; presumed circulated among senior aides as a defended legislative priority.

After: Effectively politically neutralized for now — the administration concedes the error and decides to dump the bill, reducing the provision's immediate legislative traction.

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S1E16 · 20 Hours in L.A.

Letting the Bill Die to Spare Hoynes

The ethanol tax credit provision (the bill) is the textual stake around which the argument revolves—Leo admits the administration misread the vote on this policy, and the team decides politically to 'dump' the bill rather than punish the Vice President for the miscalculation.

Before: Active legislative priority and point of partisan pressure; politically contested and being used as leverage in intra-administration conflict.

After: Effectively abandoned politically in this moment (the President orders it dumped), shifting from imminent victory to tactical concession and altering the administration's legislative posture.

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