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The Next Fight: Gasoline Tax

January 16, 2008 Politics, World

Less than a week after the House of Representatives pushed through the (politically) controversial Anti-Terrorism Funding Bill, the government is gearing up for the next big item: a 10-year extension of the Provisional High Tax Rate on gasoline.

Currently, the provisional high tax rate is 48.6 Yen per litre, whereas the rate under the existing Gasoline Tax Law is 24.3 Yen. The rate was doubled in 1993 to secure more funding for road construction and maintenance. Considering the number of potholes and child-sized cracks in the roads between Gifu City and Nagoya, I’d say this is tax money not-well spent. But I digress.

With the expiration of the current provisional high tax rate set as March 31 of this year, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has vowed to “push the matter through the Diet by hook or crook.” Secretary General Bunmei Ibuki went on to say, “should the opposition continue to oppose the bill following its passage in the House of Representatives [and vote it down in the House of Councillors where the opposition have the majority], we would secure its legislation in the coming Diet session by having it passed again by a two-thirds majority of Lower House members, as stipulated by the Constitution.”

The more the LDP talk, the less I think they should be in power. This is, in effect, like saying: “Regardless of a democracy, we’ll do whatever the hell we want, anyways.” Where’s the “democratic” in Liberal Democratic Party of Japan?

Suffice to say, the two parties are already poised to fight, bite and spit at each other when the ordinary Diet session convenes this coming Friday.

The Upper House wants to reject this extension and lower taxes for the aging population. While this action is being done primarily to ensure positive results in the next Lower House election, I can’t help but agree with these upper-class elites and their methods. The roads in this country are in horrible condition and this special tax measure is clearly being misappropriated. Gasoline is currently selling for around 156 Yen per litre around the Aichi prefecture and, though I don’t drive in this country yet, I’d like to see this dropped to the 130 Yen level.

The LDP has already stated that getting Diet approval for the change will be difficult to achive before February. In order for the Special Taxation Measure Law to remain active past the March 31 cutoff, they must get it sent to the Upper House by the end of this month. This will afford the Lower House the opportunity to push the law through a second house vote before the March deadline. If they can’t accomplish this, then the citizens of Japan will wake up to 130 Yen gasoline on April 1st.

There is no April Fool’s Day in Japan, so one would think that nobody would be willing to let the government raise the tax again after seeing it drop 16%. Again … one would think ….

Personally, I’d like to see the bill take an excessive amount of time to pass. The citizens of this country need to pay more attention to the world around them, and this includes paying attention to domestic issues. The government of this country is a farce to such an extent that no nation dare take the Japanese seriously lest the rest of the international community mock them into oblivion. The leadership of this nation needs to be sent a message, and it must be in Japanese. For that to happen, though, people need to stop worrying so much about what restaurants their favourite (and repetitive) TV personalities are eating at and demand more accountability from their leaders.

Unfortunately, only a noticable hit to the wallet will rouse many from their “running on auto-pilot” ways. I can already see how this will play out in the local media.

• The law will be held up until too late
• The government will put their marketing team into action and say “The month of April will be ‘Half-Tax Month’ to help families deal with the rising costs of gas in this country’”
• Citizens will be happy with the 130 Yen gas for the whole month of April, and thank the LDP
• May 1 the revised Special Taxation Measures Law will come into effect, promising another decade of double-taxation and sub-standard road conditions
• The Japanese people will go back on auto-pilot and pay more attention to the comedians on TV than the people that silently rule their lives with excessive laws, taxes and personal agendas.

Yay.

I’ll bet anyone $10 CDN that this is exactly what we’ll see this spring, and in that order. It’s a shame, too. I really enjoy living in this country and being so close to my Reiko and her family. There is nowhere else I’d rather be. But the disinterest most citizens show regarding anything on the international or political scene is something that I just can’t get over. Even post-secondary students here are mute and uncaring about the situation. They just say “I’m not interested” and go on with their lives.

I really hope that I don’t become one of those burnt out people that just stop caring about things like this. I would really like to see this country make some changes and live up to its potential. Japan could be one of the leading political entities on Earth but, as it stands, they can’t even find a person worthy of leading a parade

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