Lawmakers should receive cash payouts just like others: LDP members

TOKYO, Jan. 6 Kyodo -
A senior governing Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker suggested Tuesday that
lawmakers should be able to reap the benefits of the controversial cash payout
plan just like other individuals, going against Prime Minister Taro Aso's
initial argument that the plan is designed to help the vulnerable, not the
rich.
LDP Secretary General Hiroyuki Hosoda said at a meeting of the ruling bloc of
the LDP and the New Komeito party, ''As the scheme is an economic measure, Diet
members should not turn it down, but rather receive it and use the cash,''
according to Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Jun Matsumoto who briefed the press
on the meeting.
Matsumoto said Hosoda's comment is based on the idea that using the cash is
important to bring about economic effects.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura voiced approval of Hosoda's suggestion,
saying at a news conference, ''Lawmakers need to cooperate in expanding
consumption and domestic demand.''
Asked if Kawamura himself would accept the proposed minimum of 12,000 yen cash
payout per person, he said, ''I would like to accept the money.''
Their comments largely run counter to what Aso has said in the past about the 2
trillion yen cash disbursement scheme -- a key plan incorporated in a second
extra budget proposal for fiscal 2008 ending in March.
On the heels of the two senior LDP lawmakers' comments, however, Aso adjusted
his position slightly and said Tuesday evening, ''The cash benefit scheme was
initially designed to support people's livelihoods, but I now believe it is
more like a step to stimulate consumption in view that the situation has
changed from when the scheme was crafted.''
Despite saying in November he has no intention of receiving the cash payout,
Aso told reporters he has not yet decided whether he would accept it.
''Whether or not an individual receives cash payouts is not something the
government should decide,'' he added.
Such comments contrast with those Aso made last year, including remarks that
the government plans ''to distribute cash to poor and vulnerable people and it
is not necessary to give it out to the rich.''
He also said last month, ''The plan is supposed to help hard-pressed people,
and it is common sense that people who earn as much as 100 million yen should
not receive cash payouts,'' suggesting that high-income households should
voluntarily decline.
The ruling coalition has decided to leave the decision on whether to set an
income ceiling on the cash payouts to each local municipality, which will take
charge of the disbursement process.
On the possibility that the lawmakers' annual allowances, which are around 20
million yen, may exceed the government-proposed income reference ceiling of 18
million yen, Aso said, ''I'm not sure if there are any local municipalities
that have decided to introduce income ceilings.''
Kawamura also said, ''I heard that most local municipalities would not set
income ceilings anyway.''
Under the plan, each individual would receive 12,000 yen and an extra 8,000 yen
will be given out to a child aged 18 or younger and seniors aged 65 or older.
The government submitted the second extra budget to the Diet on Monday, but it
is likely to face filibuster attempts by the opposition camp, led by the
Democratic Party of Japan, which has criticized the plan as lavish spending.
==Kyodo
2009-01-06 22:09:14