As a business reporter covering the greater Puget Sound region, I hear a lot about the entrepreneurial spirit of locals. But it surprised me to find that sentiment pervading the discussion among the group of voters I talked to for this story. Whether in a specific sense relating to tax cuts and how they affect businesses, or in the more general sense of wanting more self-reliance and initiative coming from individuals, no one liked the idea of government handouts or too much government spending. They liked the reminder from Warren Harding campaigning in 1920 that ¿all human ills are not curable by legislation, and that quantity of statutory enactment and excess of government offer no substitute for quality of citizenship.¿ And even committed Democrats in the room were skeptical of Obama's ideas for government programs to create jobs and stimulate the economy.

Feedback question: What do you think? Do the expectations created by government programs tend to squelch innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit - or even good citizenship?