In the “all politics are local” department, it’s worth noting that House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) used his muscle to make sure that conferees created a big tax break for ethanol in the energy bill.

Corn is a key ingredient of ethanol, and Illinois most years in one of the nation’s leading corn-growing states, ranking first or second in production. Illinois corn is part of the brew of about 40 percent of all the ethanol in the United States. Ethanol maker Archers Daniel Midland is headquartered in Decatur, Ill.

Ethanol politics in Illinois is a uniter, not a divider, and partisan differences are put aside when it comes to public policy that bolsters the Land of Ethanol. Over in the Senate, Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) were touting a tax-credit program to encourage the use of an ethanol-based formulation called “E-85.”

The Senate bill covered E-85, but Hastert waited until conference to show his House hand. That’s how he often operates. For example, the top agenda items that Hastert wants for his district and the state in the pending highway-and-transit bill will only surface in conference.

Hastert’s office assigned Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), an Energy Committee member who is on the energy conference panel, the job of making sure there was support for the E-85 ethanol break.

E-85 is a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gas that can fuel “flexible fueled” cars designed to use regular gas or the mixture, which is supposed to carry a cheaper pump price. The conference report calls for gas companies to get a tax credit to cover 30 percent of the cost to install E-85 pumps at service stations, up to $30,000.

Hastert pen-and-padding. It’s been a long time. All year. Today, according to tentative planning, Hastert will hold his first pen-and-pad session for 2005 with reporters to talk about this big legislative week that is wrapping up and what progress the House has made on the GOP agenda.

Last year, Hastert’s sit-downs with the Capitol Hill press corps were on a fairly regular basis — about once a month. The cordial pen-and-pads rarely made news, but they did provide insight into some of the workings of the House.

Weekly briefings when the House is in session by Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) filled some of the void. It’s not as if Hastert disappeared. He just used his press time to appear at stakeouts, etc. with other leaders. He also uses the unfiltered medium of talk radio.

The thinking, said Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean, is “the Speaker is a team player. He believes we have all kinds of stars in the Republican Conference and different voices that should be heard. So we like to participate, the Speaker likes to participate in leadership events where we will have other leaders and members of Congress around to push the Republican agenda.”

As Congress is poised to leave for a five-week recess, Hastert was planning to meet yesterday with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and their respective leadership teams to deal with unfinished business — and agree on what the message is going into August.

Durbin’s Whip Group. Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, huddled with Dem pollster Celinda Lake on Tuesday afternoon.  Durbin’s Whip Group consists of the dozen or so deputy whips and some staffers. Former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta, chief of the Democratic-oriented Center for American Progress, was also set to be a Whip Group guest this week.

Sweet is the Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it