Ideological Hostility

On the lack of preparedness for Katrina, Paul Krugman sums it up like this:

But the federal government's lethal ineptitude wasn't just a consequence of Mr. Bush's personal inadequacy; it was a consequence of ideological hostility to the very idea of using government to serve the public good. For 25 years the right has been denigrating the public sector, telling us that government is always the problem, not the solution. Why should we be surprised that when we needed a government solution, it wasn't forthcoming? ("Killed by Contempt" by Paul Krugman, NYTimes, 9/5/05)