Japanese Politics Rant

[Puppycow]

The biggest threat to Japan right now is partisan politics, and the most egregious party is the LDP. Case in point:

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Saturday that his government "cannot sidestep" a controversial tax hike that has turned into the leader's highest priority and largest potential stumbling block.

During a 30-minute group interview with 19 members of the international news media, Noda appealed for opposition cooperation on his tax plan, which would help the country pay for its escalating social security costs and ease global concerns about its massive debt.

"There is no waiting in responding to this question" of how to create a sustainable social security system, Noda said. "We're faced with an aging society and a declining birthrate unprecedented in the history of humankind and we cannot sidestep this challenge. I believe all the political parties fully understand this."

Noda has staked his 6-month-old administration on the tax hike, and he faces a deadline later this month to submit the bill, which would double Japan's 5 percent consumption tax rate by 2015.

Noda's hope for political cooperation runs counter to recent history, and he faces a critical test in the next weeks to rally support for a bill that many in his own party oppose. The leading opposition party, meanwhile, provides an even trickier obstacle: Although its members support the tax hike in theory — the Liberal Democratic Party recommends the raise and was the first to propose it — they also sense an opportunity to obstruct the bill, lower Noda's approval rating and force a snap election.

It is already way, way past the time when this tax hike should have already been done, but the politicians are more concerned about gaining partisan advantage than doing what needs to be done to fix the runaway debt problem. Japan's demographics mean that the problem is only going to get worse the longer they wait to do what needs to be done. A delay in passing this bill would mean another downgrade of Japan's credit rating. Everyone knows this must be done, but yet they're still dicking around and playing stupid games.

 

[tyr_13]

All I can say is, yup.

 

[Beerina]

If you're going to do such things, you need to do it ahead of time, and build up a much bigger savings.

Of course, telling people 30 or 50 years ago that, to have a government-sponsored social security would require 20% of their income, would quickly get those politicians kicked out the door.

 

[theprestige]

I, for one, congratulate Japan on attaining such a blessed state, that this is the nation's biggest threat.






You might think that the biggest threat to Japan was Chinese imperialism in the face of a weakening US, or North Korean intransigence, or a thousand-year earthquake. But according to some pundits, you'd be wrong. So everything's coming up Japan!

 

[A'isha]

It is already way, way past the time when this tax hike should have already been done, but the politicians are more concerned about gaining partisan advantage than doing what needs to be done to fix the runaway debt problem. Japan's demographics mean that the problem is only going to get worse the longer they wait to do what needs to be done. A delay in passing this bill would mean another downgrade of Japan's credit rating. Everyone knows this must be done, but yet they're still dicking around and playing stupid games.

Well, I for one am certainly glad that something like this would never happen in America.

 

[Eddie Dane]

Sometimes I really wonder about the ability of democratic countries to implement difficult, painful policies.

Ironically, the first thing the first democracy had to vote on was essentially a national suicide mission.
Athens was facing a huge invasion by the much larger Persian empire and actually voted on the very daring military strategy they used.

Are we turning into a bunch of cry-babies with an inflated sense of entitlement?