DPJ leaders forge late-night consensus on reform bills

Get ready with your ear plugs people an election is coming. (again)

Without a specific plan detailing what spending will be cut and without a purge of bureaucrats responsible for all the mismanagement of pensions, nuclear disasters, etc., over the past number of years, the people of Japan should not accept a greater tax burden. Also, only a consumer tax on luxury items should be increased, as an across-the-board tax unfairly burdens the poor. Better would be a steeper progressive income tax, in light of the growing income gap.

Better would be a steeper progressive income tax, in light of the growing income gap.

I disagree on the income tax hike. Income taxes here already run at over 50% for upper earners and the lower brackets are pretty fair at about 5% don't screw with those please.

However I agree with making the consumption tax higher for luxury goods and knock it down to 0% for essentials. Want to give more money to the lower income earners? Try that first instead of making across the board. This rise is just going to hurt the poor and under-employed folks.

This rise is just going to hurt the poor and under-employed folks.

It will hurt everyone. It is a mistake of epic proportions.

When the PM is out of town these guys cook up some stuff... it's like when the PM is in town they are so busy opposing everything he does that now they actually have time to do some real work.

So about DPJ 200 party lawmakers are in agreement with the PM's plans (2 tax and social security reform bills), but two old farts (Ichiro Ozawa and Yukio Hatoyama) are not. Looks pretty clear what needs to be done. Can you spell リストラ？

This is the economic equivalent to using leeches and bloodletting to try to cure alcoholism. First, and foremost, the addiction to spending must be treated.

@ warispeace

That's by far the most intelligent and reasonable suggestion I've I've read thus far regarding this tax debacle. Kudos!

warispeaceJun. 20, 2012 - 07:37AM JST :

The income gap is not the issue, the age-averaged income gap is. As younger people will be footing the bill for the older ones, they need economic resources to do so. Unfortunately, DPJ is going the wrong way, "reforming" pensions up and increasing taxes to compensate. But as those taxes are consumption based, the younger people who don't yet have what they need in life will be hit much harder than older folks who have the basics from a time when there was lower (or no) taxes. It will result in rapid economic stagnation, and eventually, regression the likes of which has not yet been seen.

They cannot expect those with a high capital value be supported by those with almost no value, it simply does not work. People should protest this disgusting proposal to increase taxes to support elderly folks who wish to maintain a life of relative luxury. Noda should simply stay in Mexico until this situation is resolved, or visit any country where pensions have run so north of crazy they actually collapsed.

Oh come on. There's no way Japan is ever going to balance its books without this tax increase. Spending cuts would be good too, but both are going to be necessary, I'm afraid.

Ruling party isn't in agreement with its own (suggested) policies but expect the opposition to agree with them. LMAO! Is this a joke?

Basroil is right.

How many parents would raise their prodigal son's allowance?