Monday, April 09, 2012

"If thou be the Son of God" - The Two Major Parties in Japan

Tokyo Stations

The Two Major Parties in Japan

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan is now trying hard to pass a bill to increase the consumption tax rate from 5% to 10% under the initiative of Prime Minister Mr. Yoshihiko Noda.

But the largest opposition party LDP also intends to increase the tax rate.  However, as the LDP aims at getting the DPJ cornered and forcing PM Mr. Noda to hold a general election, the LDP does not support the bill proposed by the Noda Cabinet.  Indeed, if PM Mr. Noda cannot have the tax-rate-increase bill passed by the parliament, he will suffer big damage.  PM Mr. Noda himself said that he would risk his political life to achieve the tax rate increase.  Accordingly, if the LDP does not cooperate in the parliament and the proposed bill is rejected, PM Mr. Noda might call a general election to bring the case directly to voters.  It is what the conservative LDP wants, since the poll shows that the LDP will win the liberal DPJ in the next national election as the DPJ has failed in various key issues in these years, including the recovery from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident.

But objectively speaking, it is very strange that the two major parties competing with each other   set forth the common goal of raising the consumption tax rate from 5% to 10% in order to improve the financial status of the Japanese Government.  And, more strange is that the opposition party is trying to take over power by promising voters a rise in the consumption tax rate, since 50% of voters are against the tax-rate rise while 40% support it.

Nonetheless, Japanese voters seem to think that if it is inevitable to raise the tax rate it should be entrusted to the LDP with a longer history of having been a ruling party than the DPJ.  It is general judgment of the Japanese public that the more pro-American LDP is more professional than the more pro-Chinese DPJ.  The LDP is fully rooted in capitalism but the DPJ is partly from socialism.

What is more interesting is that it is the Ministry of Finance that is behind both the parties.  The Ministry is willing to raise the tax rate no matter which party holds power and organizes the cabinet.  Before taking power through the 2009 general election, the DPJ claimed that it would not increase the consumption tax rate; former PM Mr. Hatoyama of the DPJ  stuck to this policy.  But following prime ministers of the DPJ regime, Mr. Kan and then Mr. Noda drastically changed their policies.  Now, PM Mr. Noda has abolished the election manifesto of the DPJ for the 2009 election and is pursuing the tax rate increase so firmly.  So, it is thought that elite bureaucrats of the Ministry of Fiance has worked so hard on PM Mr. Noda to succeed in brainwashing him and making him get determined to follow the policy of the Ministry of Finance.

It is true that national debts of Japan has been accumulated to be equal to 200% of its GDP.  But, the Japanese Government and the Japanese people have more financial resources and assets to cover the debts, though they are so huge.  Many economists and experts think that there is no need to increase the tax rate especially as Japan is still in the aftermath of the 3/11 Disaster of 2011.  In addition, Japan is still in deflation.  It is against a basic theory of economics to impose heavier tax on people while a nation is in deflation.

Of course there are some minor parties and groups of Japanese politicians who are against the increase of the consumption tax rate.  Especially the Ozawa faction in the DPJ is expected to vote against the proposed tax bill running counter to the top of the DPJ Mr. Noda.  In this case, the situation will become more complicated, since the powerful lawmaker Mr. Ozawa seems to plan to run for the election scheduled this September to choose the new top leader of the DPJ.  Nonetheless Mr. Oazaw, an ex-top leader of the DPJ, is now waiting for a judicial judgment by the Tokyo District Court where he is persecuted for illegal political fund reporting.  Depending on the coming judgement, to be given in April, the situation can be more complicated as Mr. Ozawa is now actually fighting the party leader/prime minister Mr. Noda over the agenda that the DPJ should or should not tie up with the LDP, which dislikes Mr. Ozawa, so as to pass the tax bill.  As Mr. Ozawa has a 40-year-long career in politics and controls about 100 DPJ lawmakers, he is a big enemy for PM Mr. Noda with only a 20-year-long career in national politics of Japan.

So, Japan has now two big issues: the consumption tax rate increase and the restart of nuclear power generation which is almost completely stopped since Fukushima Daiichi.


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Luk 4:9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:
Luk 4:10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
Luk 4:11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Luk 4:12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.