Kan Boosts Japan's Budget with a Brobdingnagian 5 Trillion Yen check

'Diet VIP Ozawa Ichiro' s hard talks ahead!

Today, Kan's cabinet decided an extra budget worth 5.05 trillion yen ($61.33 billion) to boost Japanese economy. The extra budget includes support for workers seeking employment and increases child-related support and subsidies for environmentally efficient home renovations. Kan's government says it will add 0.6 percentage point to the GDP growth... Yesterday at the Diet some politicians claimed Kan won't even end his mandate 1) as surveys started to enter into a falling spiral effect and 2) because the archipelago entered into a concerted opposition with China regarding the Senkoku Daioyu islands' territorial disputes, 3) unknown crisis factor.

But how to pass such a gigantic budget when the ruling party walks with such a thorn in the foot in the person of the senior DPJ member Ozawa who wrote all the DPJ Manifesto that brought DPJ to victory? -- Ozawa has the nickname of Shadow Shogun and is rumored to be involved in a money scandal--. Ozawa controls one third of the DPJ Diet members and he is ready to rock the DPJ's boat! Facing him, the party VIPs' fear Ozawa could become a liability for the ruling party as it tries to pass this fiscal 2010 supplementary budget through the Diet and will require new sacrifices to Japanese citizens. Especially with such gigantic numbers.

Ichiro Ozawa an enigmatic and resourceful politician, arch enemy of the ex Socialist current Chief cabinet Secretary Sengoku has played central role to Japanese politics for decades and commands a sizable following of lawmakers in Japan's powerful lower house of parliament. Ozawa is repeatedly said by local media to have planned the 2009 DPJ's election campaign which propelled the party to an historic victory that brought an end to nearly half a century of Liberal Democratic rule in Japan.

Court?

A judicial panel of ordinary citizens has decided Ozawa, 68, should be indicted, meaning the Tokyo court must appoint lawyers to prosecute him over a case that goes back to 2004 and involves his political fund management body called Rikuzankai. In June, along with former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's resignation, Ozawa, his ally, supporter of an Asian regional organization shaped on the European Union also stepped down from his position as DPJ Secretary General at the same time. He was the prime target of the conservative and US media, curiously associated in a political witch-hunt.

For the records, it is a fact that Japanese politicians receive money gifts from supporters and companies. It is not illegal but under certain rules. For instance, Ozawa is well connected to the construction companies, while Maehara, current foreign affairs minister is said by Japanese sources to be supported by all Japanese firms associated with business operations in the US. Others? Hatoyama Yukio and his conservative brother Kunio both are the beneficiary of a family fortune coming from the Bridgestone empire. Everyone knows in Japan about Zokujin's money.

Maybe the specialist of "Structure of Power", the Literature Nobel Price Vargas Losa, has an answer to explain and maybe resolve this never ending Japanese political earthquake provoked by financial scandals, political instability and denials of political pledges?

Sources: Reporter's Notes