Ichida: Revised budget must help support jobs and livelihoods

Japan Press Weekly

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

Ichida: Revised budget must help support jobs and livelihoods

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi took part in NHK’s Sunday debate program broadcast on September 26 and discussed budgetary issues with the secretary generals of other parties.

Ichida said that the FY 2010 revised budget draft, which the government is planning to submit to the extraordinary Diet session starting on October 1, should support people’s livelihoods, especially in the areas of jobs, small- and medium-sized businesses, and agriculture.

Okada Katsuya, general secretary of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, said that the DPJ wants to hear other parties opinions, which should be the first thing to do.

Ichida said that the immediate task is to take measures to counter the high yen. He asked the government to take the initiative in controlling foreign exchange speculation. As more basic policies to change the industry’s high-yen structure, he called on the government to not allow the large exporting corporations to shift burdens from the foreign exchange rate onto small- and medium-sized businesses, and to rehabilitate the country’s economy by boosting the household economy and domestic demand.

Regarding agriculture, Ichida said that the government may have to decide to buy all the surplus rice as the excessively low price of rice is a threat to the very survival of Japan’s agriculture.

Eda Kenji, general secretary of the Your Party, and Shimoji Mikio, secretary general of the People’s New Party, called for a relaxed money policy to counter the deflation.

Okada commented that there is not much difference in the size and substance of the opposition parties’ revised budget requests.

Ichida refuted this assertion by stating that the JCP position greatly differs from the DPJ and other opposition parties calling for a consumption tax increase and tax cuts for large corporations.

Ichida argued: It is possible to force large corporations to not bully subcontractors through arbitrary cost cuts. It is also possible, without touching budget funds, to immediately and drastically revise the Worker Dispatch Law to close loopholes which enable employers to use temporary workers in the manufacturing industry and in various “expert” job categories.

Okada agreed that there is much difference in the opinions of the DPJ and the JCP.

The JCP has been protesting against NHK for excluding the JCP from the debate program for some time.

-Akahata, September 27, 2010