Japan's opposition parties unite to take on Kishida over tax hike plan

Get rid of the LDP PLEASE!!

to pay taxes is to participate to the WAR plan. no thank you!

No more LDP,please.

Does eveyone who is against the LDP have a better alternative for Japan? No, just don't downvote me, give me some rational alternatives.

Get rid of the LDP PLEASE!!

No more LDP,please.

Hear! Hear!

No one EVER likes tax rises. But this rise is absolutely necessary if you accept the reality that it has never been more dangerous to be in Japan for 80 years.

Japan desperately needs to upgrade her ability to strike at her enemies and defend herself - and, sadly, there are many nations out there who would love to destroy Japan.

Fighto! Please let us know which nations would love to destroy Japan.

The ones who constantly threaten to do so, wish death upon Japans leader, promise to "turn Japan into a sea of fire", etc etc.

It's no secret.

Would like to see the people of Japan protesting a bit more their discontent (if they indeed, do disagree)... qui tacet consentire videtur

The ones who constantly threaten to do so.

Still don't know what are you talking about.

Fighto!, Which nations want to destroy Japan?

No, just don't downvote me, give me some rational alternatives.

Japan Innovation Party.

If the government wants to spend more money on defense, they simply need to cut some other lower priority spending.

Hiking tax rates won’t produce higher tax revenues, taxes in Japan are already too high. People take actions to avoid higher tax rates when they are too high and unfair.

Japan would get more tax revenues by cutting out all the special interest loopholes from the tax code.

The problem is, everyone thinks their loopholes are important.

How about eliminating tax breaks for mortgage holders?

How about eliminating tax breaks for investments (iDeCo, NISA etc)?

I guess some of you benefit from those.

But if the tax breaks were eliminated and rates were flattened to say 10%, you’d not stop buying your house, you’d still buy your investments.

Eliminate all special privilege - including mine and yours.

The only rational reason why we would need to increase our defense spending is in areas where we need to protect our maritime routes, going to and from dangerous zones. Since we rely heavily on energy imports going through these dangerous routes, if a war were to break out, we would need to defend these routes at all costs. There likely isn't a plot to destroy Japan (maybe verbal threats), nor would any country even consider it a priority when there is far more vulnerable and valuable land elsewhere. The amount of effort trying to conquer Japan (who has the US as an ally) simply will not be a great enough value for return. In my opinion, we should utilize our tax money to address other areas instead like the young poverty situation, low birthrate, education, and you know the rest.

Hope these opposition parties can come up and silence the LDP.

Fighto!, Which nations want to destroy Japan?

Hint (you'll probably need to drag out your world Atlas) - they are to the West and NW of Japan.

Surely you can work it out.

Fighto!Today  05:14 pm JST

the constitution prevents japan to build offensive strike capability. any military defense system can be used as offensive system. Japan is just a US proxy and not a sovereign country. the tax hike money will be given to US for the US war business.

no countries are interested to strike japan. it is japan that provokes other countries to justify a military buildup.

“No one EVER likes tax rises. But this rise is absolutely necessary if you accept the reality that it has never been more dangerous to be in Japan for 80 years.”

There’s no need to raise taxes. A lot of people still cannot accept the reality that the government finance is quite different from the household finance. The government can legitimately create money out of thin air by issuing bonds but households and corporations cannot. If you create money you’ll be put behind bars.

I don’t want to use my taxes to help these nationalists revisionists hawkish LDP oyaji to restore their so called “glorious” military.

I truly hope the oppositions can stop their selfish plan.

Get rid of the LDP please.

Japan is one of the highest taxed lowest salary nations in the top seven, and the LDP still can’t come close to balancing the books. That alone tells you they are stupid in a class of their own.

there are many nations out there who would love to destroy Japan

Why?

The LDP is doing just fine, dismantling the country from within.

’tis impossible to be sure of any thing but Death and Taxes (Bullock, 1716).

The country that taxes business at 40 percent but thinks they can get businesses to move there while they are ranked 145th in difficulty to start or live a business has become beyond delusional.

nobody needs to attack Japan. It’s doing a great job of ruining itself.

all these taxes and what in return ? 200% debt highest in the G7.

Japan is a lost country. Only delusional people think it’s wonderful.

This is probably going to be the end of my time in Japan.

I'm not going to be paying more for less, sorry.

LOL. The people keep voting the same party in power. And by saying they're increasing taxes for the older generation oficourse it will be supported by those that vote the most.Namely the pensioners, who outnumber the young. We should be looking at about European levels of sales tax, and since the opposition has four parties and there is only one in power, the opposition will always loose, as they can't work together for common good of the people. Until they come together, they will alway just be talking.

Fumio is clown and LDP is relict of past,bunch of crooks who can do nothing just steal our taxes.

Get rid of the LDP PLEASE!!

No more LDP,please.

Hear! Hear!

Hey, Was it not the LDP they gave you a visa?

Get rid of the LDP PLEASE!!

Hear! Hear!

Japan is one of the highest taxed lowest salary nations in the top seven, and the LDP still can’t come close to balancing the books.

High tax rates don’t correspond with a strong economy and high tax revenues.

Not only the LDP, but a great many people do not comprehend this, but they could if they thought about it. We need to carefully distinguish “taxes” between tax rates and tax revenues.

(And the LDP spends money like crazy anyway on the expenditures side)

The government can legitimately create money out of thin air by issuing bonds

That’s almost completely wrong.

The only money the government issues is yen coins.

Check the money in your wallet.

The coins have Nihon Koku written on them, yes.

The notes however do not. They are issued by the Bank of Japan.

The law of Japan also bans the Bank of Japan from directly underwriting government spending, in the manner you describe.

The government can only get money for newly issued bonds by selling those bonds for money in the primary bond market.

Right now, there is a lot of talk going on that the BOJ is going to have to stop printing money to buy bonds from the secondary market because of Japan’s inflation problems.

The stuff you said is what the MMT crowd were saying a few years back, but is well and truly out of fashion now with inflation having reared its ugly head.

Governments cannot print money willy nilly without consequences, which should be apparent to all by now.

Ahead of a regular parliamentary session starting this month, the Japanese Communist Party agreed with its larger counterparts -- the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Japan Innovation Party -- to take on Kishida who is facing tumbling approval rates for his Cabinet following a series of scandals.

A united front but lacking daring proposals.

What is needed is a progressive tax as in the post war era where broad based prosperity and growth ruled and the highest tax brackets paid over 80% on earning above a very high level, an incentive to put money into productivity and labor, not the hoarding we see today.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/01/29/business/economy-business/japan-must-tax-wealthy-heavily-close-income-gap-piketty/

But it is plutocratic LDP, what am I saying?

Churchill once said, “For a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”

I still see Japan wasting untold amounts on pouring concrete onto beaches that don't need it and building roads that few people use. Stop that and you could fund quite a few more sailors.

Here is an example of the criminal waste of taxpayers money for absolutely no benefit on one of Japan's last untouched beaches.

https://www.savethewaves.org/katoku/

@indigo I don't get it!!!! So you don't pay taxes at all. When you purchase anything in stores you still pay taxes whether you like it or not! Warped logic!

to pay taxes is to participate to the WAR plan. no thank you!

To be fair, he doesn't have much a choice. His generals, as well as the Americans, are telling him Japan needs x,y,z missile systems and a,b,c jets and ships in order to stay up to date on defense. They might even be right, but he isn't in a position to argue with them. If he decides "meh, we'll be fine" then the media and the military roast him alive, calling him "reckless and irresponsible." They'll say Kishida is "emboldening the enemy" and "undercutting the military" so instead he just goes along with it and wants to raise your taxes.

So we'll see how this impacts the already faltering economy in a country that only has to wait 20 years to have 15 million fewer people. Now thats something not even a nuclear war can accomplish.

Politics is what it is a bunch of ticks sucking the blood out of the people their money but, in Japans case you have the same situation as the US. The US keep voting the same idiots into power and the same people who do this are the main people complaining about what they don't like but when they have a chance to make a change they lose their minds. Yes, the old people are just that they are not going to change just as the hardliners don't want change the young don't care or get involved in politics because they are not introduced to politics at an early age they don't know how to debate they just stay silent an accept what the elders say their opinions don't count. The old people in Japan is just getting older the younger generation is getting smaller and as the older generations ages they are getting the pensions and the younger generation once they get old there will be little or nothing left for them to drawn on. Yes you have to raise taxes because you have a declining birth rate and a growing aging society. Those who in opposition is telling you the taxes is needed to beef up Japans military, yes that is only part of it but is the most far fetching scare tactic that is for people in a nation that is not use to such headlines. Japan's government is seeing what China, NK, Russia is doing what are they going to do sit back and fight with bow an arrows when the other countries are using advanced weapons! China has already taken over the China sea, they are sailing at will in international waters outside Japan so is Russia, NK is lobbing bombs over the country. China is building their military and do you think they have forgotten Japans past aggression's against them? If the US is QUESTIONABLE about protecting Taiwan can Japan REALLY rely on the US if China does attack them, Japan had to be prepared to protect their own just as Taiwan is doing. They are procuring weapons to defend themselves. It's better to be safe than sorry and cowering in a corner when the bombs start falling. Yes, taxes need to be raised but don't fall for the BS the country is raising taxes purely for military. If you have a young base that is not paying into the retirement system and you have a aging population that is sucking it dry then who's going to pay? Everyone even if the bombs fall!!!

The Opposition always make a stand against any and all policy or law changes that the ruling party does. what is different this time is some news paper is making a story about it. Regardless the opposition is opposition for the simple reason that they don't have a majority even combined. pointless story.

What is needed is a progressive tax

Japan already has a progressive tax.

Top rate on income is 45%, and then if you make the mistake of dying rich in Japan your heirs are paying towards 55% of what you die with.

And how is this progressive system working out for Japan?

the highest tax brackets paid over 80% on earning above a very high level

80…. Why not 105%?

an incentive to put money into productivity and labor, not the hoarding we see today.

80% would be an incentive to not earn that income (or find ways to not report it), or to move overseas instead.

If the idea is to boost tax revenues, it would likely be a complete disaster.

Thank goodness the opposition is talking against such tax rate hikes.

High inflation AND high taxes is never a good plan for any politician.

The time to tax is when there is high growth. High growth happens when people work smarter and actually achieve more productivity, not by some count of hours spent inside a building working.

@OssanJapan

Does eveyone who is against the LDP have a better alternative for Japan?

The constitutional democratic party of Japan.

Is insane! Is it wrong, instead of spending money on something useful for the country and for peace, they try to spend the money on war machines? We already have many problems in this world, we need to make peace and not war! instead of using our money, why don't they use their own money for these things? It's easy to decide and use other people's money, because they have no risk, but we do!

Hey, Was it not the LDP they gave you a visa?

Um no. I didn't get my visa from Kasumigaseki..

You obviously have no clue how the J- system works. LOL!!

>

Japan Innovation Party.

.the Japan Innovation Party in which creation right-wing xenophobiacs such as Hashimoto and Ishihara dabbled (before they fell out)?

Exactly! They are 2 cheeks of the same backside when it comes to the LDP. No thanks.

Does eveyone who is against the LDP have a better alternative for Japan?

The constitutional democratic party of Japan.

Samit- well said! They would be my first choice. Them or the Communist Party.

I'd vote for either over the LDP or JIP

I would only vote for the JIP, never the LDP.

LDP is the party of vested interests, and swings between socialist and less socialist policies depending on the leader.

CDPJ is also socialist, basically, they just want to spend the money on their own preferences instead.

The Communist party are needless to say, socialist.

Even JIP has been proposing a Basic Income scheme, but a key difference is that they are not a party of vested interests. Of course, in time they might become such.

JIP is about as close as we might get to a smaller, more decentralized government in Japan. Decentralization of power is another key theme for them.

OssanAmericaJan. 16  04:58 pm JST

Does eveyone who is against the LDP have a better alternative for Japan? No, just don't downvote me, give me some rational alternatives.

Can you explain why the LDP is better than the alternatives? As far as I can see the only reason to vote LDP is that with 300 candidates running in each election they're the only party that can actually form a majority on their own. They're not better, just better-funded.

Building up the military is good only for those who benefit from it. Puppy dog Kishida sits, begs and rolls over for his master. Biden says, "Buy US arms" and Kishida says, "Woof!" The US builds up its military presence in Southeast Asia and North Korea panics and starts slinging bombs around and China builds up their military.

Peace?

No. This is not the way of peace.

This is the way of war.

And there are those who benefit from that too!

OssanAmericaJan. 16  04:58 pm JST

"Does eveyone who is against the LDP have a better alternative for Japan? No, just don't downvote me, give me some rational alternatives."

Can you explain why the LDP is better than the alternatives?

No answer. I wasn't expecting one. This is the problem with expressing support for the LDP. There aren't many options except for criticising the opposition.

Awa no GaijinToday  09:47 am JST

The opposition parties need to unite and create a new party capable enough to give the LDP and kishida the boot and lead Japan into a brighter future and quell the dysfunctional relations with neighboring countries.

For that they need to settle ideological differences and raise enough money to outspend the LDP on candidates and election campaigns. A few charismatic PR-savvy leaders would help too.