予算案通過―修正こそ民意に応える道

2011/03/03
--The Asahi Shimbun, March 2
EDITORIAL: DPJ should be willing to discuss budget bill revisions
予算案通過―修正こそ民意に応える道

The Lower House passed the government's budget for fiscal 2011 in the early hours of Tuesday. Even if rejected by the opposition-controlled Upper House, the budget will still be enacted through a constitutional provision.
　政府の新年度予算案が、きのう未明に衆院を通過した。これにより、野党が多数を占める参院で否決されたとしても、憲法の規定で予算は成立する。

However, the Lower House postponed voting on budget-related bills, including the issuance of deficit-covering government bonds, because of the uncertainty of how they will fare in the Upper House. Thus, the budget was sent to the Upper House without the certainty of securing the necessary funding.
　しかし、赤字国債の発行を認める法律などは参院で可決するめどが立たないため、採決を先送りした。財源を手当てできるかどうかわからないまま、予算案だけ参院に送ったことになる。

Both the ruling and opposition camps are responsible for ending this abnormal situation. We strongly hope they will discuss amendments to the bills and reach an agreement.
　この不正常な事態を解消するのは与野党双方の責任である。予算案の修正を協議し、ぜひ合意してもらいたい。

Before the Lower House vote, opposition parties moved to demand changes to the budget bills.
　衆院通過に先立ち、野党側は予算案の組み替えを求める動議を提出した。

The motion introduced by the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party calls for scrapping the ruling Democratic Party of Japan's signature child allowance initiative and other plans, and appropriating 1.4 trillion yen ($16.8 billion) to public works projects by cutting government personnel costs.
　自民党の動議は、子ども手当などの目玉政策の撤回や、公務員人件費の削減を財源とし、公共事業に１．４兆円を充てる。

The motion also calls for shrinking the overall size of the budget from 92.4 trillion yen to 89.3 trillion yen.
予算の総額は９２．４兆円から８９．３兆円に圧縮するとしている。

There is a big gap in thinking between the LDP and the government, but we believe it is possible for them to find common ground. Specifically, both sides should ask themselves what their priorities are.
And while it is important to remain principled, they should also be flexible enough to revise their specific policies. This is the attitude we expect from them.
　政府案との隔たりは大きいが、接点を探ることは可能だろう。優先課題は何かを問い直し、理念は大切にしつつ具体策は柔軟に手直しする。政府・与党は、そんな姿勢で臨んでほしい。

The biggest challenge our country now faces is the aging population and low birthrate.
　日本が立ち向かわなければならない最大の課題は、少子高齢化である。

Working-age Japanese are decreasing in number, which means more people will have to be supported. This is certainly one of the reasons why our social security system is fraying at the seams, the economy is faltering, and our fiscal problems are getting worse.
働く世代が減り、支えられる世代が増えていく。社会保障のほころびはもちろん、経済の停滞も、財政の悪化も、そこに起因するところが小さくない。

Such being the situation, surely our top priority is to make society a kinder and easier place for people to bear and raise children. There is no need for the DPJ to abandon its "children first" principle.
　であれば、子どもを産みやすい社会をつくり、育ちを支援することが最優先ではないか。民主党は「チルドレンファースト」（子ども第一）という理念まで降ろす必要はない。

The LDP wants to scrap the child allowance initiative, but make up for it by reviving and expanding child-support benefits. However, the size of the overall budget for child care will be considerably smaller than what the government plan calls for.
　自民党案では、子ども手当の代わりに児童手当を復活・拡充するが、子どもへの支援の総額は大きく減る。

Also, the LDP wants to appropriate the money thus saved to public works projects, but we don't believe this will help to rebuild our country.
それを公共事業に振り向けることが、日本の立て直しに役立つとは思えない。

That said, however, we don't think the DPJ's child allowance initiative is the best program for people with children.
　一方で、子ども手当が、子どもを支援する最善の策だとも限るまい。

We propose that high-income families be excluded from the initiative, as was the case with traditional child-support benefits. As well, we believe the government should focus more on improving child-care services than providing cash handouts. The government should heed these opinions.
　児童手当のように、豊かな世帯には支給しない仕組みにしてはどうか。手当よりも保育所などのサービス拡充に力を入れるべきだ――。そうした主張には耳を傾けても良いのではないか。

Other opposition arguments stand to reason. For instance, making highways toll-free is certainly not a top priority issue for our country. The government should withdraw initiatives of this nature and shrink the overall budget.
　他にも、野党の主張に理のあるものがある。たとえば高速道路無料化は優先課題には当たるまい。それらを撤回し、予算の総額を圧縮してはどうか。

The historic change of government in 2009 is supposed to have ushered in a new era of politics. We would like to see it manifested in the process of budget bill revision.
　予算案の修正に、政権交代時代の新たな政治の作法として積極的な意義を見いだしたい。

If the ruling and opposition camps can exchange good ideas and work together to come up with better budget bills, then the Diet can be said to be fulfilling its intended function.
与野党が知恵を出し、よりよい案を練り上げる。それは国会が本来の機能を果たすことである。

In the Upper House election last year, voters decided they didn't want the DPJ administration to just do as it pleases. We should interpret their decision to mean that they would rather see the ruling and opposition parties engage in more fruitful debate and work more closely together than watch the DPJ cling stubbornly to its campaign manifesto.
　民主党政権の思うがままにはさせない――。有権者は昨年の参院選でそんな判断を示した。マニフェストの固守より、与野党の話し合いと歩み寄りを求めたと解するべきだろう。

There is no need for the ruling DPJ to feel it is being forced to compromise. On the contrary, the party should realize that revising the budget bills is exactly how it can comply with the will of the people. If the DPJ cannot hope for cooperation from the opposition camp, then it should be prepared to go it alone.
　やむなく妥協するのではない。修正こそが民意に応える道なのだと考えるべきではないか。野党の協力を得られないなら、与党が自ら修正するくらいの腹づもりがあっていい。