Sadly, the disaster in the Gulf continues this week as BP’s efforts at containment keep hitting snags and residents along the coast scramble to clean up and defend their shores and wildlife.

Many have criticized the federal government for not doing enough. The reality is there is only so much govern- ment can do to help, yet plenty they can do to prolong the problem .

For example, in the interest of “doing something,” the administration has enacted a unilateral ban on offshore drilling. This is counterproductive.

I am proud to cosponsor legislation to lift that ban. Why punish other oil companies and their hardworking employees who had nothing to do with this disaster, and who have better safety records?

And, as usually happens after disasters, countless people — even officials in local and state government — have come forward who know what needs to be done and are willing to help, but have been stymied by federal bureaucratic red tape as the oil continues to gush.

The real problem is not so much a lack of government assistance, but government getting in the way of those who have solutions.

We witnessed the same phenomenon during Hurricanes Katrina and Ike. It seems government’s main role in these situations is to find excuses to stall relief, host meetings and press conferences, waste money, punish the wrong people, and over-regulate.

Yet even after many examples incompetence, people still look to government to solve problems in the wake of disasters. A government that tries to be everything to everybody people might engender a lot of learned dependence, but ultimately it only harms the very people it is supposed to serve.

Government could help by holding the appropriate parties liable for damages and clean-up costs. I am hopeful efforts to do this are genuine and BP is indeed held responsible for all damages.

Unfortunately, a large sum of taxpayer money has been slipped into the upcoming supplemental bill for Gulf cleanup costs that should fall on BP. Taxpayers should not have to bail out a major oil company that has caused this horrible damage to our shores.

It should be noted BP is not exactly a bastion of freemarket capitalism. Rather, they are vested in acquiring government subsidies, favorably slanted policies, and competition-hobbling regulation.

BP has even been a major lobbying proponent of capand trade because of certain provisions in the legislation it could profit from.

Considering who lobbies for them and what they lobby for, my concern is that attempts to hold them fully accountable could end up being nothing more than a shell game.

If the government’s idea of action in crisis is to punish the innocent, bail out the guilty, and raise prices at the pump on everybody, we should want them to do less, not more.

Ron Paul represents the 14th Congressional district of Texas.