Not in Singapore lah! Sinkies love cash hand out from the PAP and will vote PAP come rain or shine, not because of the cash handout...I mean GST rebates.
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March 4, 2009
Cash handout 'stupid'
TOKYO - CASH back from the government? Stupid, wasteful and ineffective - and a shameless attempt to woo voters, many Japanese say.
Prime Minister Taro Aso is touting a one-time cash handout of 12,000 yen, or about S$189 per person, as the centrepiece of a stimulus package to revive the world's second-largest economy, mired in one of its worst slumps since World War II.
But polls show that most Japanese oppose the idea - though many confess they'll take the money anyway.
They argue that most people will just save the money, not spend it. Others say it's a shortsighted plan that exacerbates the government's ballooning budget deficit. Some call it a ploy to boost the plunging popularity of Mr Aso and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
'Japanese politicians are so immature in the way they think the economy should be run,' said Atsuko Yamaguchi, 42, of Osaka. 'It's always for-the-moment kind of thinking. It's so stupid. I'm so ashamed.' Ms Yamaguchi says she'll accept the cash because she just lost her job at a consulting firm.
'But will it really be helpful for the economy of Japan?' she asks. 'I don't think so.' A national telephone poll last month by the Yomiuri, the nation's biggest daily newspaper, found that three-quarters of the 1,087 respondents disapproved of the cash payouts. In a similar survey by the Asahi newspaper, nearly two-thirds wanted the government to scrap the plan.
The widespread repulsion seems driven largely by disgust with Mr Aso and a perceived lack of leadership at a time of crisis, experts say.
Mr Aso ranks among the country's least popular leaders since World War II with approval ratings edging toward single digits. Elections must be held by September. -- AP
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March 4, 2009
Cash handout 'stupid'
TOKYO - CASH back from the government? Stupid, wasteful and ineffective - and a shameless attempt to woo voters, many Japanese say.
Prime Minister Taro Aso is touting a one-time cash handout of 12,000 yen, or about S$189 per person, as the centrepiece of a stimulus package to revive the world's second-largest economy, mired in one of its worst slumps since World War II.
But polls show that most Japanese oppose the idea - though many confess they'll take the money anyway.
They argue that most people will just save the money, not spend it. Others say it's a shortsighted plan that exacerbates the government's ballooning budget deficit. Some call it a ploy to boost the plunging popularity of Mr Aso and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
'Japanese politicians are so immature in the way they think the economy should be run,' said Atsuko Yamaguchi, 42, of Osaka. 'It's always for-the-moment kind of thinking. It's so stupid. I'm so ashamed.' Ms Yamaguchi says she'll accept the cash because she just lost her job at a consulting firm.
'But will it really be helpful for the economy of Japan?' she asks. 'I don't think so.' A national telephone poll last month by the Yomiuri, the nation's biggest daily newspaper, found that three-quarters of the 1,087 respondents disapproved of the cash payouts. In a similar survey by the Asahi newspaper, nearly two-thirds wanted the government to scrap the plan.
The widespread repulsion seems driven largely by disgust with Mr Aso and a perceived lack of leadership at a time of crisis, experts say.
Mr Aso ranks among the country's least popular leaders since World War II with approval ratings edging toward single digits. Elections must be held by September. -- AP
