politics

Kan says sales tax debate will come after July election

12 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

12 Comments
Login to comment

This represents Kan flub (?) number one.

He had to say something about taxes just to grease the no-confidence vote. Now all of a sudden it is "not important enough" to discuss before the election.

Watch what happens. If a tax increase is seriously being considered, it will vanish from campaign rhetoric. Nobody will want to mess up their election chances by speaking "the truth." If it is not being seriously considered, we will hear all manner of goofy promises and posing. Kan will emerge the worse for it.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

He told a news conference, “We will achieve a strong economy, strong government finances and strong social security” with strong leadership.

Who's Kan talking about?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Who's Kan talking about?

ore, ore....Self Preaching/Teaching and later Self Denial = A politician.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Hello Kitty, Goodbye Kan...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

How convenient. Let the public guess now where you will stand. Typical of this party. Both major Japanese parties are not fit to run a local community and certainly not a nation.

When will people in this country wake up and start to care about the destiny of this nation? I hear far more foreign residents voicing concerns about the economic and social issues of Japan than I ever hear the locals voicing. It is like a nation of people with their head in the sand hoping reality will pass them by.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Yes, Japan is in an almost embarrassing state. You may be tired of the old-fashioned corruption that LDP embodied but the democrats have shown that they are just as corrupt - yet on a personal level. And people I talk to feel they are progressive and free voting for them. The democrats treat these issues in the same old corrupt way. They think it is more important to stay in power than taking on a sensitive subject which is of utmost importance to the Japanese economy. So let it wait. Let's get more behind. What's wrong with being late, slow, second best etc etc ... Most Japanese still think the TV news represent reality well.... (sigh)

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Did anyone think the man was going to insist on a tax increase BEFORE the next election? People in Japan might be stupid enough to vote for a party that promises to increase taxes if elected (like the LDP does), but that doesn't mean a politician is not aware it COULD be political suicide to announce it. When the DPJ gets its majority it July, the next day the tax increase will be put in the works.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

How convenient. Let the public guess now where you will stand

Not wanting to steal your lines, but this is exactly what I thought.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It is like a nation of people with their head in the sand hoping reality will pass them by

yep- you can say that again. Unfortunately, all excessively good things must end. To cool the inflated economy, the Japanese government raised rates. Within months, the Nikkei stock index crashed by over 30,000 points. At its height, the Nikkei stood at 40,000. The Nikkei could crash this far because its value was inflated on false hopes and hype, not solid financials. Eventually, many scandals came to light showing the corruption that always occurs in a bubble’s heyday. Japanese housing prices plummeted for 20 straight years. The Nikkei sank until its low of 8,000 in 2003. The Japanese government and corporations are still suffering under unwieldy debt loads gained since the late 1980’s. This debt was used for stock speculation and buying overpriced land. Even today, in 2010, the Japanese economy will remain in the doldrums. And in the end just like America- the public pay. When you walked around Japan in the mid 80s- no cell phones and people laughing all the way to the bank (that's where safe Japan came from). The good times have been over and now its time to pay up. Hope the geezers of the nation enjoyed the sushi and hostesses....

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Once raised, never comes down again. Please, no tax increase. Cripes.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I don't know where the debate is coming from since the LDP also calls for raising the tax from the current 5 percent to 10 percent in the near future.

The only question is whether voters want an ambitious political program to stabilize Japanese economy and society or LDP, Your Party, Komeitō, and the other parties to retain a perch from which to challenge the government and retard its progress.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

my2sense, I too, remember those halcyon days when I was 18 and arrived in Japan to visit friends in Tokyo, Kyoto and Nagano. The hospitality was akin to being a movie star and money was no object. I couldn't pay for anything. The nation was drunk on it's success as property values and stock prices soared. Remember the value of a square metre of property in Ginza as Banks lent heavily with land as collateral?

Weirdly enough, "Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa told policy makers today that China’s strengthening recovery is spurring concern that the economy is in a bubble..." http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-18/bank-of-japan-s-shirakawa-sees-chinese-bubble-risk-update1-.html

The same article paints a fairly realistic story about the need for most Japanese citizens to realize that even PM Kan is aware of, that the current system is unsustainable without drastic spending cuts and tax adjustments.

Let's look at the record, Noboru Takeshita had to resign as prime minister not long after introducing the shohizei 3% consumption tax in 1989. In 1994, prime minister Morihiro Hosokawa announced that he was going to hike the tax to 7% - but he dropped the plan the next day amid a backlash and was ousted a few months later. In 1997, premier Ryutaro Hashimoto finally pushed the sales tax to 5%.

It's simple, PM Kan has shown political courage, let's hope he is allowed to do his job and increase the sales tax with a promise to cut personal income tax so that Japanese can rebuild their savings and build a better Japan.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites