Is Atlas Shrugging?

I enjoy reading The Week magazine for its comparison of left and right media coverage of the news. (And while I’m confessing, I will admit that I also enjoy The Daily Show, although more for Stewart’s ridicule of what passes for journalism these days than for his political views.) Every issue of The Week includes a short editorial piece at the end of the publication. This week’s Editor’s Letter discussed the recent decision in Colorado Springs to cut back on virtually all public spending in lieu of increasing taxes to pay for government services.

“In Colorado Springs, says local businessman Chuck Fowler, ‘Atlas is shrugging.’ The city government of that conservative, anti-tax community had a huge hole carved in its budget… When the city proposed tripling property taxes to make up the shortfall, the indignant citizenry said: No way. So Colorado’s second-largest city is now a laboratory in minimalist, Ayn Rand–style government … Is this our country’s future? Quite clearly, our appetite for government services now exceeds our willingness—indeed, our ability—to pay. Even the federal government cannot print money and borrow trillions indefinitely. So do we accept painful tax increases at virtually every level of income—or do we drastically reduce our ambitions, and our expectations?” The Week, Thursday, February 11, 2010 (The Week article link only available to subscribers; Ayn Rand link mine)

Are we expecting too much or paying too little? Can our government continue to meet the demands of our appetites? Should they? What say you?