Excellent points! Americans, especially the current generation, have had it too easy and have increasingly been looking for the government to do things for them. For example we want the best health care in the world, to be able to see the doctor of our choice without long waits and to get all the latest treatments, but we don't want to pay the cost and instead want the government to give us "free" medical care. The expectation is that we will continue to enjoy the quality of health care we have today, but for little or nothing. The sad reality that Congress and Obama will give us national health care, but at a crushing tax burden and of a quality that more closely will resemble that in third world countries.
I frequently tell my students that if we expect the government to right every wrong and wipe every tear soon the government will be dictating to us the "right" way to wipe our rears.