Monday, April 23, 2012

100% of Japanese Public Surveyed Against Sales Tax Increase - Noda is Toast!


Well, I've been saying for a long time that Japanese prime minister Yoshihiko Noda, who has called for Japan's sales taxes to be doubled, will be out of a job by July of this year - especially when he keeps throwing money away




I've also stated repeatedly that Japan's problem of debt is not only declining revenues but a problem with Japan's government bureaucracy in not cutting of wasteful government spending. The debt and interest on that debt, along with an aging population, and energy crisis and a host of other problems will lead to our undoing. Without addressing the spending problem, Japan (and every other country in debt) will never dig out of the hole they are in. Please refer to: Japan's Noda Government Passes 200% Tax Increase - Look for Noda to be Out by July, September at the Latest

....Without massive cuts in today's current spending, they can raise taxes to the moon and it won't help. Either way, I predict that this tax increase hasn't the chance of a snow-cone in hell of passing into law. The Noda government is extremely unpopular. The Daily Yomiuri reports in Noda Cabinet approval ratings slides to 30%:

The approval rating of the Cabinet led by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda fell to 30 percent from 37 percent in a January survey conducted immediately after a Cabinet reshuffle, a Yomiuri Shimbun survey has found.

And, now, if I read the results of this survey correctly, I have 100% of the Japanese public agreeing with me. Never mind the poor reporting of the story I am about to show you by local English language news sources, let's just look at what they've reported, shall we?


According to a news story that appeared today in the Japan Today web site entitled, "58% of companies say conditions not yet ripe for consumption tax hike", it says: 



In a further sign of trouble for Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, 58% of companies say that conditions are not yet ripe for a hike in the consumption tax, according to the monthly Reuters Tankan business sentiment survey of 400 companies conducted last week.
Noda has been struggling to win support for a plan to raise the 5% tax to 10% by late 2015 to fund bulging welfare costs in a fast-aging society.

Of those wary about tax hikes, 78% called for sweeping administrative and political reforms, while 66% urged policymakers to present a clear outline for the future of social security. Respondents were allowed to pick more than one area of concern.

The poll underlined public distrust of policymakers who have failed for years to cut wasteful spending and curb public debt now twice the size of Japan’s $5 trillion economy - the worst among industrial countries.

Yeah. People aren't that stupid. I think that, as I've written, most people understand that unless we control spending, we can raise taxes to the moon and it won't matter. 


I've also mentioned on several occasions that I think these surveys that show any percent of the public thinking raising sales tax is a good idea are highly suspect, but today's survey takes the cake. Before I go and show evidence of that, let me just explain something that seems to have fallen down the memory hole for most people; and that is that the political party of which Yoshihiko Noda is a member of came to power in a general election in Japan on a platform that was against raising the sales tax!


The Asahi News reports in DPJ's Governing Fiasco: Party Never Challenged Finance Ministry:



The DPJ thrashed the Liberal Democratic Party in the August 2009 Lower House election with a promise not to increase the consumption tax rate for four years.
Uh, don't look, now Yoshihiko Noda and the DPJ, it's not 2013 but only 2012, you've now broken the promise that won you the election.


Can anyone say "Four prime ministers in four year?" Shoot. I knew you could. Quick! Someone cue that 80s song by Beck!




But I digress....


Back to the results of the survey. The Japan Today site reports the above. But let's look at how the Japan Times reports the very same story: "58% of poll respondents oppose consumption tax hike":



Fifty-eight percent of respondents in a nationwide survey in Japan are opposed to the government's policy of doubling the consumption tax rate in stages by the mid-2010s, according to The Tokyo Shimbun daily Sunday.

....

The survey, based on face-to-face interviews, was conducted on 3,000 people on Dec. 17 and 18 by a nationwide opinion poll body organized by Kyodo News and 38 of its members. Of the total, 1,756 replied, a response rate of about 58 percent.

Wait! What? Read that again! "58% of poll respondents oppose tax hike." Okay. Then it goes on to say that 3,000 people were polled and 1,756 replied, "A response rate of 58%."


So, I may be confused, but this convoluted sentence, seems to me could be read to mean two things:


a) 58% of 58% of people oppose a sales tax
b) Of the people polled, only 58% responded and those were all negatives; meaning they opposed the proposed sales tax increase.


Even though the reporting seems confusing, now, (b) makes sense to me. Because I don't believe that there's a people in any nation of the world who wishes to pay more sales tax... The only ones who would be in favor of a sales tax increase are people who are able to pocket that increase. I doubt that there's a working person alive who can perform that magic trick.




This looks to say to me, that "100% of poll respondents oppose a sales tax increase." But maybe it doesn't? So I asked all my friends and co-workers if they opposed a sales tax increase, and guess what? It was 100% opposed! No surprises there.


Noda is out on his a*s by July. Mark my words.


Look for Ichiro Ozawa to be Japan's next prime minister. When that happens, all bets are off the table. (But it can't be any worse than what we have now!)


UPDATE! As of last night, in my direct and informal survey, I have asked 42 people if they are against a sales tax hike. I have a solid 100% strongly against. My survey has a margin of error of zero.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Polls are funny, eh? Or at least the way they are reported anyway.

I wonder, maybe the vocal portion of the population of Japan generally isn't as stupid, PAID for, and underhanded as the vocal population of the unitedstate is, are?

Kind of seems like shades of George Bush and his "REad my lips, no-new-taxes" lie, here:

"the political party of which Yoshihiko Noda is a member of came to power in a general election in Japan on a platform that was against raising the sales tax!"

What Japan needs is to be part of a war to get their collective minds behind tax increases and their dear leader, huh. Psft.

Thank goodness war isn't as popular in Japan as it is in the unitedstate. Do you suppose there are factions working hard to change that Japanese perspective?

We were shocked the other day by two bright yellow bumper stickers with bright red letters:

"What you feel when killing a terrorist: recoil."

and...

"Give War A Chance"

Both of them had the U.S. Marines symbol on them.

This Person had a few more similar slogans across the back of his brand new Obama-truck, but those stood out. It's not often I get that much evil intent in my face,... offline anyway. Tragically, I think there are many People here who share this sentiment.

*Insert article talking about outraged dog lovers sick of all the puppy-cide by cop that's been going on who are now labeled as terrorist, here X*

I wore my Ron Paul T-shirt around town today as I ran errands. I'll tell you, I got a taste of what it means to be a minority. People at stores didn't say "Hello" when I walked in, as always. Didn't say, "Thank-you, come again" after I bought something, as always, and didn't even ask me if I wanted a bag for what I bought, as always.

At times I half thought they weren't going to do business with me at all, they sure acted like they didn't want to.

Freakin' warmongers, the whole lot of 'em I imagine. Many People were oblivious, yet I'll bet all of them will probably welcome the armed guards and the check-points they are setting up all around the outside of my town. ... We're getting fenced in. Or I should say, we Are fenced in, and the concrete was just poured for the check-point guard shacks.

It really bites being at a personal cross-roads at this point. It's a lot like what Japan as a nation is going through right now too I think.

I could and want to buy a low maintenance 1970's VW Beetle to get through the tough times ahead, or I could buy gold, or I could save my cash and redouble our efforts to get a job elsewhere, such as the rebel states in the N.W. unitedstate, or somewhere in the Caribbean? Or possibly Florida, although I've read that's not the optimal place to be when SHFT but it sure is nice. ...Yeah, I know, I need to stop hanging with those SHTF People. Heh.

... Or I could do what the in-laws and the parents always wanted me to do, go in debt up to my eye-balls and buy a house and such. ... Prosperity through debt? And dang it with that Gary North writing articles saying now is a good time to do some of that.

What to do, what to do?

I better hurry up and do something or the deciding is going to be made by factors totally outside of my control. ... It was so much easier being poor. I felt free then too. Er, free'er, anyway.

- clark

Mr. Nobody said...

Hello again Mike!

Does it truly matter what the people want, or moreso what the creditors want? Most people in the US & EU are against increasing taxes to bail out bankers, yer it keep on happening.
Why should Japan be any different?

Mr. Nobody said...

Hello Clark,

Please see my later comments WRT war & JP. Why is it that the JPG has spent so much money, and trained so many physicists for more than the last two decades for, let us say, some strange reason?

Bumper stickers in the US always seem rather tacky, but those seem to have taken the cake.

The mainstream media in the US seems to have portrayed RP as both crazy, and a bit racist. Plus, I don't believe many people in the US want to bring up politics, and not with strangers in particular...

Clark, what general part of the US do you reside in? May I be blunt? The checkpoints are already here, and throughout most of the industrialised world, it's just that the information has been kept secret.

Here's a hint, only look at this from a public location, not anything that can be tied to yourself:

Look up R+F+I+D (minus the +'s) and "tires." Look at the technology and the specifications. Then look at how long they have been mandated. Also look up number plate readers.

Almost every motorway in every industrialized nation has these readers and sensors about them.

The checkpoints are already here, they are automated. They just haven't been manned yet.

Why do you think this is the case?

Consider me a madman if you wish, but take to heart that these decisions that you make matter, and possibly more than what you currently are aware of at the present time.

Clark, as Heraclitus said, one cannot step into the same river twice. Choice matters, and now more than ever. Plan ahead.

Don't worry, you might be wrong.

mike in tokyo rogers said...

Mr. Nobody,

Thanks. That blows my mind about the RFID chips. They started putting those in drivers licenses but I believe that I "accidentally" wrecked mine when it fell into the microwave. I'll be more careful next time.

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