Japan Press Weekly

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2015 April 8 - 14 [POLITICS]

2015 budget bill approved with more for defense and less for welfare

The 2015 budget bill (96.3 trillion yen), which includes a record-high defense budget, passed through the House of Councilors on April 9.

The Liberal Democratic and Komei parties voted for the bill, and the Japanese Communist Party voted against the bill.

JCP Dietmember Kurabayashi Akiko at a House of Councilors plenary meeting delivered a speech in opposition to the bill. She pointed out that the budget bill will provide large corporations with 1.6 trillion yen in tax breaks for two years while cutting welfare spending by 390 billion yen. This disproves the government claim that the consumption tax hike imposed in April last year would fund social security programs, Kurabayashi stressed. She also said that the record-high defense budget is unacceptable as it anticipates the successful completion of Prime Minister Abe’s ambition to dispatch the Self-Defense Forces abroad.

JCP Secretariat Head Yamashita Yoshiki at a press conference held in the Diet building on the same day stated that the government should not cut welfare spending and should not provide increased tax breaks for large companies and engage in a military buildup. He added that the JCP will work to protect people’s livelihoods and promote peace in cooperation with the general public.


Past related articles:
> Yamashita criticizes PM Abe for proposing anti-people 2015 budget plan [January 15, 2015]
> Painful cuts in social welfare spending [December 26, 2014]
> DefMin will request largest-ever military budget of Y5 trillion [August 30, 2014]