Congress primed the rural-welfare pump just before it won the 2009 polls, so it's now convinced it has to keep courting the rural voter.

WSJ: Review & Outlook: India Keeps Feeding the Beast

But even those who want to sell E85 face problems just getting it to the pump, because there isn't a distribution system in place for ethanol like there is for regular gasoline.

NPR: Ethanol-Based Fuel Enthusiasts Face Lack of Pumps

It's not good enough to just pump out lusty hardware like the Walkman in order to drive generous profit streams.

ENGADGET: Conde Nast stakes out 'leadership position' on iPad