Japanese Government Incompetent Resigns Over Abusive Remarks to Disaster Area Officials

Hot on the heels of my last two posts, the first entitled; Tax and Spend, Tax and Spend, Tax and Spend, Lather, Rinse, Repeat followed by Nuclear Radiation: No News is Good News  blasting the government of Japan (all government for that matter) for gross incompetence (among others things) another scandal hits the news.

Duh!

It seems that the boss of the newly created March 11 disaster reconstruction team, Ryu Matsumoto, that was just formed by soon-to-be ex-prime minister Naoto Kan has gone and done something really stupid within the very first week on duty. Matsumoto went up to some earthquake and tsunami ravaged areas in Northern Japan and was talking down and being extremely rude to local officials there. Now, after catching some serious backlash, the guy has been forced into resignation.


What a doofus! 

FOR FULL COMEDIC EFFECT, CLICK ON

THIS VIDEO BEFORE YOU CONTINUE READING

This is hilarious. You just can't make this stuff up. A total and complete comedy of errors.


Yahoo Japan reports:

TOKYO – Japan's embattled government received a fresh blow Tuesday when the new disaster reconstruction minister resigned a week after his appointment because of criticism he was rude to officials on a trip to the tsunami-ravaged coast.

Hint: Japan. Rude. No.

The teary-eyed minister, Ryu Matsumoto, apologized and stepped down after a weekend trip in which he berated a local governor for being late to a meeting and threatened to withhold aid.

The guy was teary eyed? Bwa! Ha! Ha! 

Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who created the new Cabinet position last week, had hoped it would help fend off critics who have questioned his leadership in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that wiped out much of the country's northeast coast.

Oh, this episode is really going to help out Kan. Dear Mr. Prime Minister, who hired this Matsumoto guy?

Kan has been under intense pressure to step down himself, but has said he will do so only after putting Japan on a solid recovery path. 

He will resign after "putting Japan on a solid recovery path"? Like how he's handled the debt problem and the immediate aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami? That means never.

Seriously, folks. I haven't laughed this hard in a loooooong time.

His government faces deep rifts in the ruling party and an increasingly emboldened opposition, which has denounced his response as dithering and poorly coordinated.

Poorly coordinated? Nah! Rubbish! I won't have it!

Matsumoto's brief performance is unlikely to help.

It may have been brief but it was a damned good show while it lasted.

In meetings with local governors over the weekend, the minister's words were regarded as arrogant and uncaring, angering local residents and political opponents. He told the governor of Iwate, one of the hardest-hit prefectures, that the government would not help municipalities that did not have good ideas about rebuilding.

Ah! Now we're getting to the nitty gritty. This idiot Matsumoto told the governor of Iwate that the government would not help unless the municipalities had good ideas? Yes. I see. Translation: "Yeah. We don't have a fricking clue as to what we're doing so someone has got to have a good idea. How about you guys?"

Gee, come to think of it, this is a representative of the same government who claims that they need to raise Sales Tax to pay for reconstruction of northern Japan! No one said that the people of northern Japan had to score at least 80% on a multiple choice quiz before they got the money!

To Miyagi Gov. Yoshihiro Murai, Matsumoto expressed irritation that he was made to wait for the tardy governor. Matsumoto refused to shake Murai's hand when he entered the room and scolded the visibly surprised governor.

Maybe Murai was late as the roads are all shot and the trains all fell off a cliff during the earthquake or something.

"When a guest comes to visit, do not call up the guest until you have arrived in the room," he told Murai. "Do you understand?"

Oh! Goody! He even yells at the people who were victimized by the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster! I hope he steeped on their feet, farted and slammed the door on their butts on the way out too!

He then warned journalists in the room not to report his words. 

He then warned the journalists not to repeat his words!? Sensational! This is funny! Is this the same guy who was teary eyed when he resigned? Is this guy for real?

However, they were widely reported in the media, and a video of the exchange was posted on the Internet.

Oh! Juicy! Where's this video? I gotta see this... Oh lucky me! Here it is:

Pardon my French, ladies and gentlemen, but what an asshole this guy is. It may not sound like he is being rude because Japanese is such a very polite language, but if that we me on the receiving end, I'd probably tell this jerk to "get out!" What an arrogant worm!

Jin Sato, the outspoken mayor of badly damaged Minami Sanriku, said the minister's comments deeply upset disaster victims already frustrated with the recovery process.

Think so? Nah!

"I have been saying all along that this government has no sense of speed," he said on public broadcaster NHK. "My frank opinion is that this resignation drama is another misstep."

I'm beginning to think that this Naoto Kan guy is the best prime minister we've had since Mori. The mistakes these people make are hilarious and they give me a good hearty laugh every morning. Seriously, folks, this is unbelievable.

I'm going to be sorry to see Kan go. That guy and his posse make great  entertainment.

Tax and Spend. Tax and Spend. Tax and Spend. Lather, rinse, repeat.

While driving along the road in front of Waikiki beach, I saw a building that said, "Department of Homeland Security" right next to the harbor. I laughed. Prime location on the beachfront and the federal government has a brand new building for the Department of Homeland Security, in Waikiki no less. Isn't that ironic?

Jack Lord would have been proud.

"Book 'em Dan-o!"

Don't forget that this is the same federal government that was in charge of security when the Twin Towers were attacked on Sept. 11, 2011. Most people who blow their jobs get fired. Not these guys. They get nice offices in Waikiki. 

Funny, you know, if you were the fire chief of some hick town and screwed up  your duties on that day and a bunch of buildings burned down, you'd be fired or would certainly lose your job. Not the government though. They increase our taxes and expand their incompetent services. That's the way the government operates, you know. Their answer to every problem is to tax and expand. 

That's how it works, you see. 

People who have been paying attention will already know that golden rule of politics. And that rule is that no matter what occurs the government response will always be an expansion of that government and that will mean higher taxes for you and me no matter how you slice it.  

So bend over and take it.

On that note, there’s a couple of news stories about Japan that caught my “WTF!?” radar yesterday. I thought I’d write about them today. See if you can catch the irony of the situation.

The clowns in control of the Japanese government claim that they need to increase the current Sales Tax rate of 5% up to 10% in order to cover shortfalls in tax revenues and a burgeoning social insurance liability. They also are using the excuse of the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident at Fukushima as a ruse to fool the public that this tax increase is needed and is for the public good.

If it is for the public good, well then, they are not at fault for poor management, you know. Public good and all... But hey, weren't they just claiming that they needed to raise taxes for a different reason before the March 11 earthquake? Why, yes, they were! Then it was out of control spending.

But not now! No! Now is because we are all Japanese people and we must stick together to raise taxes to help the people up north. 

By claiming that monies will be used for reconstruction of the northern Japan region of Tohoku, the government can act like they have no choice but to  increase taxes for the betterment of the public. They’ll claim that they are being “forced” into raising taxes and it can’t be helped due to circumstances outside of their control.

Never mind the fact that Japan’s public debt, by this very same government and preceding administrations pushed the debt to past 200% of GDP long before the March 11 disaster struck. 

Regular readers of this blog will know what I think about this sort of political bandwagon nonsense. 

Here are two articles that I found that I’d like to share with you that shows just what kind of shenanigans go on in the halls of power at Nagatacho.

The first from the Daily Yomiuri newspaper about how the government of Naoto Kan, in spite of being resoundingly defeated in the last election due to an insistence on increasing Sales Tax, is going to push it through no matter what. 

Public opinion and a frail economy be damned. Great timing, eh? No election coming up and all. I wonder what the angle is for the criminals of the LDP? The Daily Yomiuri newspaper:

The government and the Democratic Party of Japan agreed on tax reform plans this week, and plans to submit related bills during the Diet's ordinary session next year. 

Woah! Watch out! "Tax reform" is a code-word for "Tax increase." 

It will need to clearly stipulate in those bills when the consumption tax should be raised and by how much.

Translation: One party agrees to tax hikes and "budget cuts" as long as their pork barrel projects remain intact.

However, there are piles of tasks to be completed before that can happen, such as deciding standards by which to assess the national economy's ability to withstand the tax hike, and determining how tax revenue should be shared between the central and local governments.

Yes. The pirates must always decide how to divvy up the loot.

Thus, the government will have to overcome some high hurdles to realize the agreed plan to raise the consumption tax rate to 10 percent "by the middle of the 2010s."

Hopefully those hurdles will be so high that they kill themslves on the way back down. Faithful readers of this blog might remember my post entitled: Japan's Government Headed for Ouster? Good. The Sooner, the Better. Where I pointed out that the best government that we could possibly hope for is one in constant deadlock because, if they are in deadlock, they can't pass any news taxes. See? I was right. That slimeball Kan snookered his way back into power and now they're talking about raising taxes.

Am I genius or what? No. Not genius. All governments are the same sneaky lowlife. I am merely an astute observer at best.

The bad news continues:

The government's plan is to raise the consumption tax rate in two stages. At first, the rate will likely be bumped to 7 percent or 8 percent in autumn 2013 or later, and then to 10 percent by the end of fiscal 2016.

Great! This means we still have a chance to boot these clowns before they do anymore damage.

It is feared that a single, all-at-once increase to 10 percent might hurt the nation's real economy.

Gee. Do you really think so? It's been proven that an increase in taxes coordinates with a corresponding decrease in tax revenues. Haven't these idiot politicians never heard of the Laffer Curve? No? OK. From Wikipedia:

One potential result of the Laffer curve is that increasing tax rates beyond a certain point will become counterproductive for raising further tax revenue because of diminishing returns. 

Gee wasn't the opposition LDP just claiming that they were against Naoto Kan's plans for reconstruction and didn't they just stand in the last election firmly against any increase in the Sales Tax rate? The Economist reports:

"...opposition parties have threatened to block implementation of the spring budget for the next fiscal year. Without big concessions..."

"Without big concessions!?" Gee, do you think that means that you grease our wheels and we grease yours?... Nah!

You know what is going on here, folks, is that the LDP wonks actually want to increase taxes too but they see a golden opportunity to increase those taxes while at the same time making Naoto Kan and the dimwitted Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) take the blame for it.

See? The LDP gets their cake and eats it too and then win the next election because they can claim that they were against any tax hikes. Those sneaky genius bastards! Gotta hand it to them though… They didn't get to run this country for iffy years by not knowing how to play a very hardball game of poker.

Kan and those clowns are out of their league. The LDP is going to secretly get their tax increase (they were the ones who first put a Sales Tax into place) and they are going to blame the DPJ and return to power.

The next article would be a real head-scratcher except if you remember the golden rule: that no matter what occurs the government response will always be an expansion of that government and that will mean higher taxes no matter how you slice it.

The Japan Times reports that in 2010 Japanese government revenues actually jumped 7.1%!

Tax revenues for fiscal 2010 rose 7.1 percent from the previous year to ¥41.49 trillion, exceeding the earlier forecast of ¥39.64 trillion, thanks to improving corporate earnings, the Finance Ministry said Friday.

Did you do a double-take on that one? I sure did. WTF? The government coiffures  actually increased by more than 7% last year and these clowns still want to raise our taxes?!

Just to prove to you how much of a scam this all is and how completely and totally fiscally irresponsible these people are, here's another article from Feb. 24th, 2011, two weeks before the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, that gives another totally different reason for raising our taxes: Government debt to GDP. From Bloomberg:

Moody's said that it cut its outlook on the credit rating on Japan because of “heightened concern that economic and fiscal policies may not prove strong enough to achieve the government's deficit reduction target”.

Also they said the government's policies would probably not be able to “contain the inexorable rise in debt, which already is well above levels in other advanced economies”.

Analysts said that the move by Moody's was widely expected after S&P's decision to cut its rating. However, they added that while it may have a limited impact on the bond and currency markets, it could have broader political implications.

“Politicians or the finance ministry could use this as a reason to push for fiscal reform, which could include a sales tax hike,” said Satoru Ogasawara, an economist at Credit Suisse. 

Uh oh, there's that "reform" word popping up again.

It looks like these people have their hearts dead-set on raising our taxes one way or another. It would never do to be responsible to do something like, say, cut spending. Oh no! Can't do that.

Twenty years of this sort of out of control spending and tax increases have landed this nation right where it is today: With a faltering economy and massive debt and our credit rating slashed.

At this rate, all we can realistically expect is twenty more years of the same.... That is if we don't go bankrupt before then.

Politics and Power: Creating Bankruptcy and a Real Nuclear Disaster in Japan

The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history - Friedrich Hegel (1770 - 1831)


A couple of recent articles on Japan have hit my eye. They both have to do with money and how poorly the Japanese government have handled the economy and how the regular Japanese is paying the price.


The first article is about another doofus who thinks that a Japanese government takeover of TEPCO, the company that owns the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, is the answer to our problems. Read this article and wonder no more how this guy never got a job in the real world.

The traditionally left wing Asahi Newspaper reports about how Tadashi Maeda, an adviser to Prime Minister Naoto Kan, has proposed the nationalization of all nuclear power plants in Japan as a means to secure the long-term viability of atomic energy:

(Tadashi) Maeda, chief of the Corporate Planning Department of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, said during a recent interview with The Asahi Shimbun that the risk of a disastrous nuclear accident resulting in a tremendous amount of monetary compensation argues for the nationalization of nuclear power generation.

Tadashi Maeda is a

blood sucking tax feeder or just plan stupid?

Question: Why should nuclear power plants be nationalized?

Answer: Atomic energy should be in the hands of a state-run operator of nuclear power plants. It is important for the government to assume full responsibility for (their safe operation). The state-run company would acquire the nuclear power operations from utilities and sell electricity to TEPCO and other electric power suppliers as a wholesaler. The profits from the power sales would be used to pay compensation for the nuclear disaster. This way, the financial burden imposed on the public through higher electricity bills and other forms would be minimized. This system would also contribute to ensuring a stable power supply.

Riiiiight! Get that? What he means to say is that the state run company would be a middle man and sell the electricity to TEPCO who would then sell it back to you and me. Now, how in the world will having the idiots in government as a middleman, and taking a cut off the top, going to keep costs low? Isn't this the very same government that wants to double our Sales Taxes? 


This sounds like another sham to try to get more money from the public and private enterprise without it looking like what it actually is: Another tax guised in the mask of protecting the public.   


Now, who in their right mind would recommend such a thing? How could anyone think that the government could run anything and not turn it into a boondoggle with massive red ink? How could anyone think that adding a government run middleman will do anything except increase costs and prices?


TEPCO didn't get to be the biggest power company in all of Asia and the 4th largest power company in the entire world by having a bunch of lazy, useless bureaucrats running their organization.


Who could possibly think it would be beneficial to anyone to have the Japanese government running our nuclear industries? Look at how well the Japanese government has done at running the economy and the social welfare programs over these last 20 + years! What a marvelous job they've done there. Why, we're only at debt that is 225% of annual GDP.


Imagine the work of wonders these geniuses can do if they get a hold of the nuclear industry. If having the Japanese government run the nuclear industry is such a good idea, why stop there? Why doesn't the Japanese government just nationalize all industry, from cars, to electronics, to farming, to broadcasting, to the Internet, and even to production of candies for kids in order to protect the public and companies from high costs?


Hell, nationalize everything and we'll have a workers paradise!


Just like North Korea or the old Soviet Union. Paradise!


How could I have been such a fool not to realize it all this time? That's it! The answer to our problems! Nationalize everything!


You see, I'm married and my wife gives me an allowance to live on, like most Japanese wives do for their Japanese husbands. But, darned if this allowance hasn't been going down annually over these last twenty years. This situation is really getting desperate.


Bloomberg reports:


Japanese men have seen allowances wither to the least in three decades as their wives pare household spending in an economy mired in deflation. Known in Japan as salarymen, the workers receive 36,500 yen ($452) per month for pocket money, amounting to $15 a day and the smallest amount since 1982, according to a survey by Shinsei Financial Co. released today. Japanese wives typically manage their husbands' earnings. Japan's growth of less than 1 percent per year in the past 10 years has crimped pay, forcing housewives to cut back on pocket money and exacerbating the deflation that has plagued the economy for more than a decade. Wages have been dropping since the March 11 earthquake and household sentiment is near a two- year low, making a consumer-driven economic rebound less likely.  


In my case, I used to get about $50 for a night's out at the pub. But recently, over these last ten ~ fifteen years,  that has dropped to about $35 a night as well as cut from four night's a week to two.


This has been during the bursting of the so-called Japanese Bubble Economy. Just like the west and the USA has done over the last three years, the Japanese government has blown hundreds of billions of dollars propping up Zombie banks and defacto insolvent institutions. They did this by borrowing and using tax money.


They used our tax money and have now borrowed us and our children into a debt that they can - we can - never repay. 


One day soon the piper will need to be paid. 


That is the day Japan goes bankrupt....


And idiots like Tadashi Maeda think the Japanese government should take over our industries? See? We never do learn from history. 

Japanese Prime Minister vs. US President - It's nice to know that there's still someone who's worse off than you are!

Oh well.... That loser Naoto Kan survived his vote of confidence the other day. I was quite unhappy about that... But I was very happy with how he did it. He lied and tricked his fellow crooked politicians. In that way, it does make me chuckle. 

THREE STOOGES MOST VIOLENT SEQUENCE EVER!

Moe says, "Power company probably got their wires 
all tangled up. Go up there and straighten out the mess!" Indeed.

 It seems he made deals with other politicians to not vote against him in the vote of no confidence motion. He promised them, that if they'd cooperate, that he'd quit soon if he survived with their help. Then, after he survived the vote, he reneged, and went around telling a different story about leaving office much later (or that he hadn't yet decided) and now other idiot politicians are angry that he lied to them? Ha!Ha!Ha!Ha!Ha!Ha!Ha!

Talk about the kettle calling the pot black! What a comedy of morons.


Reuters reports:


Ruling and opposition lawmakers slammed Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Friday, as he hinted that he would remain in power until around January although he promised a day earlier to quit once the country's recovery from the March disaster takes hold. Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who supported the premier and voted against the no-confidence motion against his Cabinet on Thursday on the condition that Kan would quit soon, denounced Kan for backpedaling on his word. 


Isn't that just hilarious? One liar, in a room full of liars, lies and the rest of the liars are angry?   Don't look now, but doesn't this sound like that place in the movie, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"?

Jack Nicholson stars as leader of unspecified organized political group

Sure, it's humorous. But there's a part that is not humorous about all this. Sydney Morning Herald reports in Japan Faces Downgrade as Economic Turmoil Goes On:


Japan's hopes of bouncing back from the economic turmoil caused by the earthquake and tsunami in March have been knocked by the threat of a credit rating downgrade from Moody's, and a rise in unemployment. Moody's warned that the devastation that struck Japan nearly three months ago is making it even harder for the country to recover from the financial crisis. It put Japan's Aa2 rating - the agency's third-highest grade - on review for a possible downgrade, adding there was a "low chance" of a multi-notch downgrade.


OK. This isn't funny. I suppose people who own lots of golf and silver might find this comforting or funny.... Unfortunately, I'm one of these people who don't believe it is possible to ever have too much gold or silver.


Depressing news. Depressing news, indeed... But then, my good friend Mark, from Diamonds.co.jp (highly recommended) sent me this. 


Mark sent this about Obama (click on image for full size):

Our prime minister, Naoto Kan, is an incompetent clown. But could he possibly be worse than Bush or Obama? No way. Japan is messed up, but we have the luxury of booting out our prime ministers every year. ... Hopefully every six weeks. You guys in the USA get stuck with these clowns for 4 ~ 8 years.

It's always comforting to know that there's still someone who is worse off than you are....

Japan's Government Headed for Ouster? Good. The Sooner, the Better.

Well, in my New Year's predictions, I said he'd be out by June 1st, so my prediction seems to be off. But the voices to kick Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan out of office are growing louder.  Let's hope they become deafening.


Yahoo reports:


Japan's centre-left Prime Minister Naoto Kan, under fire for his handling of the response to the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, faces the threat of a no-confidence motion this week. Although Kan's opponents have only a slim chance of rallying enough support for a successful motion in the Diet legislature, the move would be a fresh headache for the PM, who has been in office for less than a year. Leaders of the main conservative opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its smaller ally the New Komeito party threatened the move on Friday against Kan, Japan's fifth prime minister in as many years.


Last night, at InterFM, I met with several nice foreigners who are doing wonderful charity work here in Japan for the Tohoku disaster and they said that they were unhappy that there was talk about getting rid of the prime minister. They were of the opinion that we should, under the current circumstances, allow him to stay.

Pete Seeger - Waist Deep in the Big Muddy

Classic anti-war / anti-government song

This kind of thinking always confuses me. Why?


Well, here are some folks who, like everyone else, on the one hand complain that the government handling of a crisis was inept and incompetent, yet on the other hand, they want to give that same government more time to handle the crisis? 


I don't get it.


I chuckled and asked these good folks "Hasn't the current government already done enough?" (damage?)


The indoctrination that people receive all their lives from government run public schooling once again rears its ugly head. People get brainwashed so that the idea that government is here for our benefit is so deeply ingrained in their beliefs that they cannot see the illogical notion behind it. 


Let's just take a few very brief examples, an overview really, of Japan's case. I ask you:


1) Is there anyone who feels that the current Japanese administration competently and properly responded to the Fukushima crisis in a quick manner and timely manner? 


It seems that most people do not. For evidence of that, another Yahoo report shows that: Almost three quarters of Japanese voters are unhappy with the centre-left government's handling of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, a newspaper poll indicated on Monday. 


Why would anyone think that, after such poor mishandling of the situation that, if given another chance, the government would suddenly straighten out and do a better job?


2) The current debt of Japan is 225.8% of GDP. Now, while much of this debt is not completely the fault of the current government, it has skyrocketed (almost 10%) under this administration.  


Why would anyone think that, after such poor mishandling of the situation that, if given another chance, the government would suddenly straighten out and do a better job?


3) Japan's economy is in shambles and unemployment has risen to 4.7% and household spending has fallen 3%.  Also, because of the economy and the worsening unemployment situation, according to Bloomberg, Japan faces another credit downgrade risk. 


In spite of these very bad signs for the economy, the current administration sticks to the typical Japanese government response to all crises over these last 20+ years: spend and raise taxes.


Google reports:


Japan's centre-left premier is taking steps toward a consumption tax hike, a report said Monday, days after the central bank chief warned of the government's "very serious" fiscal state. Prime Minister Naoto Kan plans to set up a body that would propose by mid-June a doubling of the tax to 10 percent by 2015, in a bid to cut Japan's sovereign debt, the Yomiuri Shimbun daily said. The Yomiuri said Kan would head the so-called Core Member Council which would include 16 senior officials of his Democratic Party of Japan. 


The economy is bad enough as it is, unemployment is up, household spending is down, Japan's credit ratings is about to be lowered and this idiot wants to increase sales taxes.  


Why would anyone think that, after such poor mishandling of the situation that, if given another chance, the government would suddenly straighten out and do a better job?


But let's forget the current administration for a moment. This post is actually about a more philosophical question than the problems with Japan's current government. Actually, I am talking about pro-government indoctrination everyone receives all their lives from all public schooling all over the world. 


Think about it, is there anyone of us who can give a consistent, good example, of a well governed nation throughout the history of mankind? 


Back to locally, how about the great result Japan's World War II government achieved for Japan? 3 million dead and her cities carpet bombed to ruin? How about the over 160 million deaths "organized" governments proudly accounted for in the 20th century alone?  


No. Government is not the friend of security, peace and freedom. Government is the sworn enemy of the little guy (that's you and me). Whenever you hear someone say, "We're from the government and we're here to help" the best thing you could do is turn and run away as fast as you can.


Some of my friends last night said that they admired the American example of government. They liked the idea of a new president, elected by the people, every four years. 


"Nonsense!" I retorted.


For one, if voting could change anything, it would be illegal. Two, regardless of who is president of the USA, nothing really changes. Current president Obama is the third Bush administration. He promised to end the Iraq war, end the war on drugs, create transparency in government, blah, blah, blah. 


We are still in Iraq. The war has expanded in Afghanistan. Now we are bombing Yemen, Libya, and other middle eastern nations. The war on drugs has expanded and there is no transparency in government. What's really happened under an Obama administration? Things have gotten much worse.


The USA is the 21st century's Nazi Fatherland. How can people admire our criminal government behavior? It's obvious that Americans do not control the beast that is the US federal government. That monster is out of control.  


And changing US president doesn't matter either. Think about this: Rome had many emperors. They had Nero, Cesar, Caligula, Augustus, etc. Many emperors. Ultimately, though, it was still the Roman empire. And that empire was built on war and taxation.


It is the nature of government - all government - to expand its powers and its taxation base as an answer to all problems.


The current Japanese government is no different as shown by recent actions and the repeated attempts to raise taxes.


No, my friends, this government has to go. They don't need anymore time. They need to be booted out as soon as possible.


Since Japan's experience with inept and incompetent government recently (over these past several years) has been a bad one, I think, then, we cannot expect a "better" government to come in to replace the current clowns we now have (see my comments above about the nature of government). Our best hope is for no government or deadlock within government.


At least, with a deadlock, the government cannot pass any new laws nor can they raise our taxes. 


Considering recent history (well the history of government since the beginning of time) that seems to be the best that we can hope for.

------------------

This article inspired by the guys from Sunset Drive (web page, blog & info here) who are holding a charity event for New Zealand Earthquake and Tohoku disaster victims on this Sunday June 5 at What the Dickens in Ebisu.

Sunset Drive

 Doors open at 5 pm. Entrance fee is ¥1,000 featuring Auctions, raffles, prizes and more fun. Performing that night will be Sunset Drive, icon girl pistols, Ruby Room Orchestra, Natccu and DJ's TIMUTAKU, goldifoxx, Abe Takayuki. Sunset Drive is really starting to happen in Japan. Check them out here.