“Are you serious?” The Kishida Cabinet submits a bill to increase the salary of politicians. The salary of the Prime Minister would increase by 6000 yen per month – Tokyo Shimbun (Japanese article)

16 comments

1. Article summary:

   > A legislative bill to raise the salaries of Japan’s special public servants, including the Prime Minister and Cabinet members, has been introduced during the extraordinary session of the National Diet that began on October 20th. The proposed increase for the Prime Minister would be a monthly bump of 6,000 yen, taking the total to 2,016,000 yen. This move has been criticized for being out of touch with the general populace, particularly at a time of rising living costs. The bill appears especially insensitive given that the government recently called a 6,000-yen monthly wage increase for care workers “reasonable,” a sector already struggling with understaffing and an aging population.

   > The article cites that the government’s proposed budget is inflating to a record 114 trillion yen, with large allocations for defense spending. Simultaneously, the government is considering future tax increases to cover these defense costs but is also proposing temporary income tax cuts. This has led to criticism regarding the government’s inconsistency and incoherent policy directions. Professor Kaneko Masaru from Shukutoku University suggests that Prime Minister Kishida is preoccupied with maintaining party balance and seems to focus solely on retaining power. He criticizes the government’s lack of policy consistency, describing its actions as akin to a “fire sale of bananas.”

   > Public sentiment echoes these criticisms, finding it inappropriate for the government to raise its own salaries using taxpayer money during financially challenging times for many citizens. The general feeling is that the government’s fiscal decisions, such as increasing its own salaries and making budgetary decisions that greatly inflate state expenditure, reveal a disconnect from the economic hardships faced by the people. Approval ratings for the government are not improving, as people anticipate that any temporary tax cuts will likely be offset by future tax hikes.

2. Boink

3. Is there really such a large argument about a couple thousand yen?
   That’s almost nothing when it comes to government spending

4. > Professor Kaneko Masaru from Shukutoku University suggests that Prime Minister Kishida is preoccupied with maintaining party balance and seems to focus solely on retaining power.

   If that’s what he does when he focuses on retaining power, I really don’t want to know what he’ll do once he stops caring.

5. What… Swimming in bribes isn’t enough anymore?

6. damn, that’s like .3% raise

7. Tax Hike Shit Glasses
   増税クソメガネ

8. He needs the extra money to pay the train fare increase.

9. Hey “tax-hike glasses” prime-minister, no, you don’t see it wrong, your approval rate will be below 10% next month.

10. Shinbun* right?

11. This will be an annual recommendation put forward by an independent body that the government submits and then approves. Hence the ridiculous amount because it’s a calculated figure.

    It’s a very normal process in a lot of democracies.

12. How about you lessen the defense spending to start off

13. This why they are [considering](https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/17c2r2q/kishida_mulling_income_tax_cut_to_win_over_public/) a tax cut for citizens yesterday….

14. Lolwut. Why even raise his salary at all at that rate? 6000 yen is less than most people make in a day. What a waste of time.

15. I enjoy the computer translated to English title, “Prime Minister submits bill to raise wages by 6,000 yen per month due to naive financial sense”

16. Learning from Singapore. High pay = less corrupt