Ozawa again criticizes Noda over consumption tax bill

Ozawa quotes"that there were plenty of things the government could do before asking the public to pay more," well what are they ?? Everybody would like to hear what they are.

minello7: Politicians could cut their own salaries, instead of just cutting the salaries of other civil servants. Subsidised housing for civil servants should be sold off. The government should sell its stakes in companies such as JT and Japan Post. The Yanba dam project, which the DPJ stated was a waste of money before the last election, could be cancelled. So much more wasteful spending on construction and useless, semi-governmental organisations could be cut.

Only after cutting out all the waste should the question of tax increases be addressed. Unfortunately, Noda has given up on this, preferring to copy the failed policies of the LDP. Don't be surprised when the DPJ splits and Noda and his chums join the LDP in the near future.

@ Minello7: There are are 30 million smokers in Japan. Some smokers consume more than one pack a day but for the heck of it let's say they each buy a pack a day. The cigarette tax here in Japan is one of the lowest in the world. Add 150 yen per pack in tax, multiply that by 30,000,000 , and 356 days in a year, and come back and type in a comment how much money in revenue the government can make in one year. Instead of placing the tax on essential items required to survive, it should at least be considered that cancer sticks be taxed first.

ozawa "there were plenty of things the government could do before asking the public to pay more"

Yes there are, and here's how we gonna start:

cut ozawa and other forms of cancer out of the public purse. his salary alone would pay for many school teachers.

any monies or assets obtained by suspicious means will be seized and without immediate documentation, will be released the following business day to public funds. this includes all family members and the usual hangers on who are on the payroll but of course have never even seen the building where they, ahem "work". No documentation? then they will be required to liquidate properties, assets etc until every penny has been paid from the date they started receiving their "salary". Yes, the following business day.

if ozawa and his cronies insist they are telling the truth, hell, no problem. they really don't need to worry. lie detector tests will vindicate them. therefore, they will report to work tomorrow morning and they will take the tests.

a new school (similar to hashimoto of Osaka's idea but without the right wing nonsense associated) will be established to do something once and for all about the shameful lack of political stock in this country. to EDUCATE people properly and prepare them for the life of public service they want to pursue. to get younger folks more interested in the future of their country. ozawa and all these weasels are too old for starters.

when people retire and stop contributing to society, they should lose their right to vote. ozawa in iwate, ishihara in tokyo etc get re-elected because 80% of the folks who vote for them are as old as they are. these are the people who have taken all the wealth out of Japan, are sitting on it and watching young people go to work for 800 yen an hour because they can't have the opportunities their parents and grandparents had. it is undemocratic and pointless as the people who are affected by said politicians policies are the younger generations who won't die in the next few years.

raise the tax on people with total net worth of over 50m yen

Sorry, just came to my senses. what WAS I thinking? nothing is going to change? OK, well let me volunteer and provide free tissues so that Ozawa et al can wipe off all the grease and oil from their faces. spare us that indignity at least.

Ozawa should have expressed his manifesto toward Japanese citizens before criticizing Noda's ways. Otherwise, from my point view, he is just veteran politician who is criticizing young politicians. Looking at current debt level of Japanese bond, we should increase the tax by another aging countries's level... like Sweden..etc. It's obvious that we're going to face the critical budget situation to keep the social security comfortable level. Of course, we should continue to ask Politicians to shoot the waste of using tax for unnecessary things. Combining such activities w/rising tax, we should go from the current situation to something ideal.

Ozawa needs to be in jail

hike the consumption tax by 10%.

Which added to the 5% now, that should come to 15%.

This country needs a new political system, run by women.

You just have to check out this "person" at the press conference that was held after the first day of his trial. Lacking any kind of self-criticism, babbling about how the judge and the prosecutor didnt have any kind of credibility and responding rudely to any critical question that came from the press.

This is not the type of person who I would put my trust in, regardless of my political beliefs. This kind of politicians are the people ruining this country, thinking only above themselves and trying to convince people of how things are OK the way they are now and dont require any kind of change.

Yes, there are a lot of things besides raising taxes that can be done, from getting rid of all those "amakudari" organizations to cutting the salaries of all those worthless politicians. But we have a country that has more than the 200% of the GDP as national debt, a social security system also depending on more national debt every year, an aging population, etc. Its sad, but Japan has to increase its revenue somehow and with one of the lowest consumption taxes in the world...it is an easy target.

The revised bill stipulates due to Ozawa or not as the condition for raising sales tax the improvement of economic condition with even concrete figures given: nominal economic growth rate of 3% and 2% in real terms. Which means it's almost impossible to raise sales tax. We better not waste any more time on something impractical.

If Japan dwarfs Greece in terms of debt level, she is also a giant as the greatest creditor nation. If you are in need and in your right mind, dispose of your assets first before asking for money. Don't imitate TEPCO, please. Slash the special account and sell off USTB forgetting/forgiving its book/current values which the Foreign Ministry bureaucrats piled up by way of foreign exchange intervention to no avail by increasing national debt. Abolish many quasi-government termite-like corporate bodies and cut subsidies to them. They might also rethink paying pension to high income earners and have religious bodies be taxable. Many more ways to balance the budget.

Ozawa? Is he still around? Amazing! Just amazing!

Gee, not Foreign Ministry but Finance M.

globalwatcher,

Ozawa is surviving, yeah amazingly, because, as rumor has it, he has some connections with the next head of Rockefeller as well as with Mr. Li Keqiang, future head of China.

the Noda government has reneged on one pledge after another from its 2009 election-winning manifesto.

Reminds me of very famous words uttered by another country's Head : "Read my lips"...

Minello - DPJ had a whole manifesto based on things Japan could do other than the LDP tax increase plan to reform and restructure government first.

The institution fought back pretty hard against Ozawa for trying to keep the party on course.

Go back and see what was happening to public spending when the DPJ was first elected and all factions were involved in party decision making. That is what should have continued under Kan and Noda.

The DPJ has completely sold out - and that is why the public has lost faith in them.

Seems to me that we have a pot calling a kettle black - Frankly I like Noda and I would like to give him a chance to "find a way" However I also find this fellow Terry Tibbs giving us something to think about. I would like to see Tibbs and Noda sitting down and talking!

Noda is not finding a way. He is just giving up control of policy back to the finance ministry beaurocrats who were planning to hike taxes with LDP support, and ran into the hiccup of the LDP losing power because of that, and the DPJ coming in promising instead to control spending.

Noda is doing nothing more than guiding the DPJ to play ball the same way the LDP did.

Ozawa is right to call Noda out for selling out like he has. Noda's likeability has nothing to do with it. Aso was actually quite likeable - didn't mean he was the right man to run the country. I don't think Ozawa is likeable, but I think his politics are correct and he is making the right call on this.