Another issue where the Democrats have been afraid to speak out, and perhaps the most important one, is tax policy. In their hearts I think the Democrats know that almost everything the Republicans say about taxes (e.g., the Lafler curve) is absurd but they remain covinced that if they even mention "tax increases" they will lose every election in sight.
A perfect example of how this fear is hurting the country can be found in a recent article in the New York Times. The Food and Drug Administration inspectors sampled less than 21,000 of the 8.9 million food containers that arrived in this country. Shipments from China, which were responsible for the recent contaminated pet food scare, totaled "199,000, of which less than 2 percent were sampled." Why are so few inspected? According to the Times it is because "the agency's budget has not kept pace with inflation." The only way to have a safe food supply is by having more inspectors, but this would require more money, and more taxes-and that, the Republicans have convinced the Democrats, is a losing issue.
It is certainly a losing issue for you and I, who have to eat uninspected food.
I think the NYT's mention of inflation was merely as a comparison to what would be a minimum expected increase in services.