Government is not working for us

Charles Robin III, a fifth generation shrimper on the Louisiana coast, was recently quoted in Time magazine, "Katrina dug a hole for us. We're laying in this grave, trying to get out, and this spill comes along."

Katrina was a natural disaster made worse by an incompetent government response. The BP well explosion was a man-made disaster enabled, in part, by a government way too cozy with big business, especially the oil business, and all too eager to deregulate the industry.

There are those who call the oil spill "Obama's Katrina." He cannot be blamed for the close and sometimes corrupt relationship between the Minerals Management Service, the regulators and BP, the regulated. This began long before he became president. But his response to the catastrophic oil slick will be closely watched and compared to the response to Katrina.

To those who decry big government, it isn't the size of the government that matters. We don't need less government. We need a more efficient, intelligent, transparent government. Our government has been growing for decades, right along with our country, but government oversight has been shrinking for decades. The combination has been literally deadly to our country.

Just as the deregulation of Wall Street and the banking system almost destroyed our economy, deregulation of big oil has damaged our environment. Profits are privatized, and the public assumes the risk.

Our government, big or small, is not working for us. Elections are bought and paid for with corporate money. Lobbyists are controlling our legislators. Every elected official in Washington swears an oath to support, preserve, and protect the Constitution. Its preamble begins with the words, "We, the People." We, the people, need to remind our president, senators and representatives for whom they are working and to whom they must answer.

Diane Niesman

Wheaton