Use tax money to improve living conditions

A Japanese Communist Party Dietmember in parliament criticized the Koizumi Cabinet's draft supplementary budget for fiscal 2002 and "structural reform" policy, saying that tax money should be used effectively to improve people's living conditions.

Speaking on behalf of the JCP in the House of Representatives Plenary Session on January 21, Yoshii Hidekatsu pointed out that Koizumi's "structural reform" policy has only forced more companies out of business and more workers out of jobs, bringing Japan's economy into a vicious cycle of "recession and increases in bad loans."

Yoshii said that the present government policy has further discouraged consumers from spending money and depressed tax revenue. "As a result, under the Koizumi Cabinet, national debts have increased by 60 trillion yen," he added.

"The further the prime minister pushes ahead with 'structural reform,' the worse Japan's business and state finance will become," said the JCP Dietmember.

Yoshii insisted that Japan's economic recovery hinges on the use of more tax money to improve living conditions. He demanded that the government cancel its plan for an additional 4-trillion yen to be shouldered by the people with cuts in the government expenditure for social services and increases in various kinds of taxes.

He said that the government must take measures to curb major corporations' dismissals of workers, which is important for securing jobs for as many workers as possible. He also called on the government to instruct banks to stop urging smaller businesses to pay off their debts.

Referring to world peace actions and many government leaders' statements in opposition to a war on Iraq, Yoshii urged Koizumi to express that he is opposed to a war on Iraq and advise the U.S. president to "give up his planned attack on Iraq."(end)