I’ll leave it to the professional pundits to determine whether House Republicans, President Obama, or someone else got the better deal with last week’s announced compromise. One winner in the deal, however, is the ethanol lobby. Although conservative Republicans, environmental groups and even Al Gore had come out against extending ethanol’s tax breaks, Iowa lawmakers made sure ethanol got (more than) its share of the bargain. Alas, ethanol’s not alone, as the lame-duck tax bill is beginning to look like a Christmas tree.