Shii says supplementary budget does not help improve people's livelihoods and nation's economy

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Shii says supplementary budget does not help improve people's livelihoods and nation's economy

The ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties on May 13 used their majority to have the House of Representatives ram through the FY 2009 supplementary budget. The Japanese Communist Party voted against the bill, while the Democratic, Social Democratic, and People's New parties did not attend the plenary session.

The record 13.9 trillion yen supplementary budget is controversial because it benefits major corporations through substantial tax cuts and large scale public works projects, and intends to clear the huge national debt by increasing the consumption tax rate after the "pork-barrel spending" associated with the upcoming House of Representatives general election in mind.

This large scale supplementary budget plan should be discussed thoroughly because the government submitted the plan just after the main budget was enacted, which was unprecedented. The ruling parties, however, held only three days of discussion.

Later in the day, JCP Chair Shii Kazuo said to reporters, "The JCP is pointing out that the supplementary budget plan does more harm than good because it does not help improve people's livelihoods or the overall economy. We strongly protest against the forcible approval of the budget plan without holding sufficient discussions. We demand that the House of Councilors discuss the real issues behind the budget plan."

- Akahata May 14, 2009