Can we change America's "entitlement" mentality?

"The key to what is bound to be hand-to-hand combat in the coming [budget cuts] debate will be whether Republicans can change our 'entitlement' mentality and cause people to focus instead on economic liberty and personal freedom. Can government do more for you than you can do for yourself? If Medicare and Social Security are going broke, why would anyone trust even bigger and costlier government to do better with more of our money? ... Changing the way we think about entitlements, economic liberty and personal responsibility will be a challenge for congressional Republicans. They've tried before and Democrats demagogued them into submission. They will try to re-run the same play this time." --columnist Cal Thomas