ID :
71433
Wed, 07/22/2009 - 13:33
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/71433
The shortlink copeid
Social Security to Be Main Election Issue in Japan
Tokyo, July 21 (Jiji Press)--Social security policies are expected to be the main focus of campaigns for the Aug. 30 election for Japan's House of Representatives as public anxiety over living conditions has increased due to the weak economy.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party aims to restore trust in public
pension, seriously hurt in a series of scandals including the mismanagement
of tens of millions of pension records, mainly by fine-tuning the current
system.
The LDP is giving top priority to boosting support for those who do
not qualify for public pension benefits or those receiving only small
amounts.
The Democratic Party of Japan, the main opposition that spearheaded
efforts to uncover pension-related scandals, has proposed a drastic
overhaul.
The DPJ is proposing a system that would provide a minimum monthly
allowance of 70,000 yen per person.
The party is also proposing the establishment of a government
revenue agency that will collect both taxes and pension premiums, tasks now
divided between tax and social insurance agencies.
The revenue agency would help prevent a recurrence of the
mismanagement problem, one DPJ lawmaker said.
In order to support families with young children, the LDP plans to
give a special allowance of 36,000 yen per child aged three to five as a
one-off measure that would expire within fiscal 2009 that ends in March next
year.
The DPJ is proposing as a permanent step a similar allowance for
each child until they graduate from junior high school. Initially, the
monthly allowance will be at 13,000 yen per head before being raised to
26,000 yen in fiscal 2012.
The party plans to cover the costs for the child allowance mainly
by scrapping special income tax breaks for families with spouses and
dependents.
While the LDP has proposed steep cuts in expressway tolls on
weekends and holidays as a temporary step expiring in two years, the DPJ is
calling for the abolition of expressway tolls and provisional fuel tax
surcharges used mainly for road construction.
Under the DPJ's plan, the government will have to take over 40
trillion yen in debts that expressway companies need to repay using toll
revenue.
This would mean a shift of the financial burden from expressway
users to taxpayers.
On the estimated costs of some 16.8 trillion yen needed to
implement such key proposals, the DPJ claims it would secure financial
resources mainly by cutting government expenses further and dipping into
surpluses accumulated in special budget accounts.
On the thorny issue of the consumption tax, DPJ President Yukio
Hatoyama has ruled out even discussing a possible tax hike in the next four
years.
The LDP has proposed raising the consumption tax rate from the
current 5 pct once Japan's economy fully recovers. The party is also
proposing that revenue from the tax hike be spent solely on social security.
LDP lawmakers, including Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano, have
criticized the DPJ for failing to propose sufficient financial resources for
its policy measures.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party aims to restore trust in public
pension, seriously hurt in a series of scandals including the mismanagement
of tens of millions of pension records, mainly by fine-tuning the current
system.
The LDP is giving top priority to boosting support for those who do
not qualify for public pension benefits or those receiving only small
amounts.
The Democratic Party of Japan, the main opposition that spearheaded
efforts to uncover pension-related scandals, has proposed a drastic
overhaul.
The DPJ is proposing a system that would provide a minimum monthly
allowance of 70,000 yen per person.
The party is also proposing the establishment of a government
revenue agency that will collect both taxes and pension premiums, tasks now
divided between tax and social insurance agencies.
The revenue agency would help prevent a recurrence of the
mismanagement problem, one DPJ lawmaker said.
In order to support families with young children, the LDP plans to
give a special allowance of 36,000 yen per child aged three to five as a
one-off measure that would expire within fiscal 2009 that ends in March next
year.
The DPJ is proposing as a permanent step a similar allowance for
each child until they graduate from junior high school. Initially, the
monthly allowance will be at 13,000 yen per head before being raised to
26,000 yen in fiscal 2012.
The party plans to cover the costs for the child allowance mainly
by scrapping special income tax breaks for families with spouses and
dependents.
While the LDP has proposed steep cuts in expressway tolls on
weekends and holidays as a temporary step expiring in two years, the DPJ is
calling for the abolition of expressway tolls and provisional fuel tax
surcharges used mainly for road construction.
Under the DPJ's plan, the government will have to take over 40
trillion yen in debts that expressway companies need to repay using toll
revenue.
This would mean a shift of the financial burden from expressway
users to taxpayers.
On the estimated costs of some 16.8 trillion yen needed to
implement such key proposals, the DPJ claims it would secure financial
resources mainly by cutting government expenses further and dipping into
surpluses accumulated in special budget accounts.
On the thorny issue of the consumption tax, DPJ President Yukio
Hatoyama has ruled out even discussing a possible tax hike in the next four
years.
The LDP has proposed raising the consumption tax rate from the
current 5 pct once Japan's economy fully recovers. The party is also
proposing that revenue from the tax hike be spent solely on social security.
LDP lawmakers, including Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano, have
criticized the DPJ for failing to propose sufficient financial resources for
its policy measures.
