EDITORIAL: Priorities for DPJ

As Prime Minister Naoto Kan himself has acknowledged, the manner in which he proposed an increase in the consumption tax rate "was perceived (by the public) as somewhat abrupt." The proposal has understandably hit a snag. Even now, it remains unclear how the government intends to use the new tax revenue.

Having made this admission, Kan should show his sincerity by explaining precisely what he means by his slogan of "strong social security system" and discuss it in the context of tax reform. Only then will he win the understanding of the public. And for that to happen, the entire Kan administration must be prepared to get the ball rolling.

Initially, Kan explained that since the government will suffer a tax shortfall of some 10 trillion yen ($115 billion) to foot the nation's health care, pension and nursing care bills, the revenue from the raised consumption tax will be used to pay for these costs.

Kan argues that relying on consumption tax revenue in lieu of government bond revenues should stabilize the social security system. But while this switch may spare future generations from inheriting the country's massive fiscal debt, we must say it is a rather poor solution if it won't do anything to improve the social security system itself.

The system's flaws need fixing, health care and nursing care services need to be upgraded and expanded to create new jobs, and child support needs to be beefed up. To meet all these needs, what scale of tax revenue investment are we talking about, and how will that investment relate to Kan's promise of "a strong economy"?

We also want the Kan administration to look beyond traditional social security needs and give us an idea of how it intends to support working-age people and develop human resources.

The Democratic Party of Japan's election campaign manifesto lists initiatives that require further funding, such as child allowances, a minimum guaranteed pension and a new health care system for the elderly that replaces its unpopular program for citizens aged 75 and over.

The DPJ must spell out the funding needed for each of these initiatives and their order of priority. And for that, it must swiftly reach an internal consensus on the expected roles of the central and local governments.

Past coalition governments of the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito had a "national social security council" and a "panel to make Japan a society where the people can feel secure about their future" to discuss policies for shoring up the nation's social security system and determining how much that will cost.

For any government, the important thing is to make political decisions on what policies to choose and execute. The Kan administration should take full advantage of the work already done, rather than redoing everything from scratch. In fact, there is not much difference in thinking between the ruling and opposition camps on certain policies, such as those for providing support to young families with children, rebuilding regional health care, improving the working conditions of caregivers for the elderly and aiding people with only marginal or no pension benefits. Even though the Upper House is now opposition-controlled, there is plenty that the Kan administration can do.

Those are the policies to prioritize if the administration truly cares about the welfare of the people. Since its pummeling in the Upper House election, the DPJ has grown noticeably reluctant to discuss an increase in the consumption tax rate. But as far as we can judge from various opinion polls, the public is not averse to the tax hike discussion per se.

We believe Kan should set the discussion in motion by first explaining clearly his road map of reform toward the "strong economy, strong state finances and strong social security system" he promised the nation in his inaugural address.

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 20