At the end of this Times story describing how the FAA had continued to let Southwest Airlines fly planes for months after their inspection deadlines had passed, Kevin Mitchell of the Business Travel Coalition says that FAA officials constantly refer to airlines as "customers." Mitchell correctly concludes that "the culture there is dysfunctional."

The idea that regulatory agencies exist to serve the industries they are supposed to oversee is deeply held by the conservative movement, and has permeated the thinking and actions of the Bush administration. That mindset has exacerbated all kinds of threats to public health, safety, and the environment. But regulatory agencies were created to enforce rules, which means that they are supposed to act more like police than caterers.

In the case of the FAA, one example is the extent to which airlines have outsourced aircraft maintenance overseas—where contractors are subject to far less oversight. The number of FAA-certified foreign repair stations increased from 344 in 1994 to 698 in 2007, including facilities in operations in China, El Salvador, Mexico, and the Philippines. But even foreign station certified by the FAA are not required to have drug and alcohol testing programs, employ FAA-certified personnel, and other security standards. They are also much less frequently inspected than domestic facilities. Outsourcing was implicated in a 2003 commuter-plane crash in Charlotte, North Carolina. A report by the Transportation Department's Inspector General identified more than 1,400 facilities performing airplane maintenance that aren't certified by the FAA, including 100 in foreign countries. Another inspector general report released last month also found major holes and weaknesses in the FAA's oversight of parts suppliers to the airline industry.

It would be easy for this sort of thing to get short shrift relative to issues like the war and the economy during the campaign season. But the extent to which candidates express a determination to reverse the systematic sabotage of laws and regulations that would protect the health and safety of Americans will be an important indicator of whether they would be able to help restore a modicum of faith in the government.

Greg Anrig is Vice President of Programs at The Century Foundation.