Money or Magic?

Does anyone have a magic wand we could borrow?

Japan's infrastructure needs rebuilding, the parts of Japan devastated by last year's tsunami and earthquake need rebuilding, and our aging population is starting to claim their social security pensions. This means Japan has big bills to pay. And that is why Japan needs a magic wand.

The ruling party planned to finance all this through a hike in the sales tax. No one likes taxes. No one likes to live in a country where bridges fall down, tunnels collapse, harbors are unusable, and the electricity and water supplies fail, either. The lesser evil seems to be raising the tax in order to pay for what needs to be fixed.

Even the opposition parties agree on this.

Actually, everyone agrees except the ruling party's disgraced Ichiro Ozawa.

His idea is for him to resign from the ruling party in protest of the proposed tax hike and take his buddies with him. This means Japan will have to stop dealing with rebuilding the infrastructure and go through the fuss and feathers of an election which Mr. Ozawa has pinned his political hopes to.

Is the expensive and time consuming rigamarole of an election really what Japan most needs at this point in time?

Did I mention that Mr. Ozawa represents Iwate, the prefecture hardest hit by last year's tsunami? The prefecture most in need of rebuilding?

If Mr. Ozawa were willing to pay for the necessary rebuilding out of his very own pocket, he might be forgiven his election, but he has been strangely silent on this point.

So, if you happen to have an extra magic wand, please send it to Tokyo.
Thank you!