It is an old axiom that the meek shall inherit the earth but the strong shall retain the mineral rights. An analogue of that axiom is that even when Washington gets really, no kidding, this-time-we-truly-mean-it serious about getting serious, the organized still get theirs. To see the axiom in action, as it were, turn to page 253 of the farm bill the president recently signed into law. Note the new National Sheep Industry Improvement Center. To appreciate the rich symbolism of this, some history helps. During the Second World War American wool producers could not produce as much as the military needed for uniforms. In 1954, with the nation mobilized for the containment of communism, Congress decided wool production should be stimulated with subsidies financed by duties on imported wool and woolen goods. Hence the National Wool Act.
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