You're right that it's become far worse over the term of the Bush administration, and as you might guess, I certainly don't want to support the idea that all government regulation is ineffective.

But the emasculation of regulatory agencies run by the executive branch began under Ronald Reagan. It's been a downhill slide since then, only completely falling off the cliff since W. took over.

To be absolutely clear: The policies of deregulation starting in the 1980s have definitely resulted in less effective government and less protection for citizens--but that shouldn't be used as an argument that governmental regulation can't be effective, or that an unfettered free market will solve all problems. Deregulation and defunding have destroyed the protections regulatory agencies provided quite well when they had the muscle.