What Did I Tell Ya? Here Comes a New Japanese Prime Minister

Well, we're not even into the 3rd week of January and it looks like one of my New Year's predictions (#6 to be exact) is coming true even sooner than I expected.


I wrote that current Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan would be booted from office by June... Well, it looks like I merely got the date wrong. This guy is toast. Give him until April. He's gone.


Xinhua reports:


Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan is going on the offensive with an ambitious tax plan that could see the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) sent further into a downward spiral and Kan exiting the same revolving door that whisked him in last year. A number of notable political pundits believe that Kan, with the public support rate for his Cabinet hovering at around 20 percent -- a perilously low level that has forced a number of Kan' s predecessors to throw in the towel -- is strategizing to stay in office with his recent aggressive bid to try to boost his ratings, take control of his fractious party and cajole opposition parties to help tackle policy problems in a divided parliament. ....


Support for Kan, who took office in June as Japan's fifth premier since 2006, and his ruling cabinet took a monumental hammering, leading to the DPJ's loss in July's upper house elections, after Kan previously floated the idea of raising its 5 percent sales tax to as high as 10 percent -- a move which Kan himself admitted was responsible for his party's defeat in the upper house election.


See? You really have to wonder about this guy. He thinks that he can increase his popularity with the public by raising our taxes!? He's only got a 20% approval rating as it is, and he thinks he can raise taxes without getting booted from office? 


What was it that Einstein said about insanity? Something about repeating a behavior yet expecting a different result each time?

"The strategy is inherently flawed and not without risk," political commentator and Shizuoka-based author Philip McNeil told Xinhua.

You call this "strategy"? I call it a drowning man flailing at straws. 

"Kan's lofty ideas of boosting Japan's 5 percent sales tax to offset social welfare costs and rein-in public debt twice the size of Japan's 5 trillion U.S. dollar economy will not impress the electorate," he said.

"Will not impress the electorate"!? Yes. Yes, indeed. It won't impress the electorate. Impress is not the word we're looking for.... Piss off? No, that's not journalistic enough...Infuriate! That's it. It will infuriate them.... 

Are you kidding me? Where do these newspapers find these mealy mouthed political commentators?

Conversely, they "have already annoyed not just opposition parties who are known set to cause havoc blocking bills at will now the DPJ don't control both Houses of Parliament, but members from his own party too," he added.

Throw on top of that, his party doesn't even control the Japanese Parliament. What a tool! No, not only does this fool need to get kicked out of office, he needs to have his head examined. 

Blogger's rendition of Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan

No. No. No. Not raising taxes!.... Cut spending and raise interest rates you clowns!