On Monday, the DPJ announced its campaign platform with five specific promises. The next day, finance ministers announced that certain promises in the DPJ's manifesto are not feasible to implement. The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry declared that the pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% from 1990 to 2020 is a practically impossible promise. There were also concerns regarding the elimination of gasoline taxes and the call for a Free Trade Agreement with the United States.
One promise that has been a popular topic amongst Japanese is the DPJ's pledge to eliminate all highway tolls. This March, the government implemented a new policy reducing all highway tolls regardless of distance traveled to 1000 yen on Saturday and Sunday's. The idea was to stimulate consumer spending by encouraging the public to leave the house. However, abolishing all highway tolls will become a huge monetary burden to the government. An article in the Yomiuri Shimbun estimates that the debt for waiving tolls could reach 30 trillions yen. Will the tolls eventually - within 4 years according to manifesto - be free? Are thetr other areas where this money could be used especially in the areas of redesigning the pension system or unemployment benefits?
(Image from Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124869359000683431.html)
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