The Yomiuri Shimbun(Aug. 19, 2009)
Voters deserve a clear presentation of policies
衆院選公示 政権構想と政策を吟味しよう(8月19日付・読売社説)

Official campaigning for the House of Representatives election kicked off Tuesday. This is an extremely important contest, the outcome of which will steer the future course of the nation.
 日本の進路を左右する極めて重要な衆院選が18日、公示された。

We hope that each voter, political party and candidate will carry an awareness of the significance of this election and fulfill their respective responsibilities in it.
 各政党、候補者はもとより、有権者一人ひとりが、今回の総選挙の意義をしっかりと自覚し、それぞれの責任を果たしてもらいたい。

The nation faces a number of difficult and serious problems.
 日本は今、多くの困難かつ深刻な課題に直面している。

The world economy appears to be emerging from the business downturn that struck the globe at the same time, but has yet to reach full-fledged recovery. How to put the nation's economy on a recovery path while taking into consideration the worsening employment situation is a pressing problem.
 世界経済は、同時不況から脱しつつあるが、本格的な景気回復には至っていない。悪化が続く雇用情勢に目配りしつつ、いかに日本経済を回復軌道に乗せるのか。

 ◆経済をどう回復させる◆
With the declining birthrate combined with the aging of the population, the assumption of a social security system supported by a steadily growing economy no longer holds water. It is necessary to work on a new mechanism that addresses benefits and burdens and to reconstruct a sustainable system to realize it.
 少子高齢化が進む中、右肩上がりの経済成長が前提の社会保障制度は機能しない。新たな給付と負担のあり方を検討し、持続可能なシステムを再構築する必要がある。

The security environment surrounding the nation has grown more severe. North Korea is accelerating its nuclear and ballistic missile development and China is aiming to be a military superpower.
 日本を取り巻く安全保障環境はかつてなく厳しい。北朝鮮は核・弾道ミサイル開発を加速させ、中国の軍事大国化も進む。日本の平和と安全をどう確保するのか。

How can the nation's peace and security be ensured? Appropriate ways to solve these pressing issues should be a key point of contention in the election.
 衆院選で争われるべきは、これらの課題に対する適切な処方箋(せん)だろう。

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Priorities of the 2 coalitions

Each political party and candidate needs to present fresh visions for the nation and the policies needed to realize them so that voters can have clear choices.
 各党と候補者は、日本の新たな国家像と、それを実現するための政策を語り、有権者に選択肢を示すべきだ。

Both the ruling and opposition parties are presenting their ideas of a government with the notion that they will be establishing ruling coalitions.
 与野党は、連立政権を前提に政権構想を提示している。

A good way to see which policies a future government would give priority to is to look at the common policies of the current ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito, and the common policies of three opposition parties--the Democratic Party of Japan, the Social Democratic Party and People's New Party.
政権選択の重要な手がかりは、自民、公明の連立与党の重点政策と、民主、社民、国民新の野党3党による共通政策だろう。

As their growth strategy, the ruling parties have pledged in their common campaign platform to create domestic demand worth 40 trillion yen to 60 trillion yen and secure 2 million jobs over the next three years. They specify that they will implement drastic tax reforms--including raising the consumption tax rate once the economy recovers--to ensure a stable financial resource for social security programs.
 与党は、経済成長戦略として「今後3年間で40~60兆円の需要を創出し、200万人の雇用を確保する」と強調した。社会保障の安定財源として、景気回復を前提に、消費税を含む税制の抜本改革を実行するとも明記している。

Though the pledge carries the responsible attitude of a ruling party toward tackling economic recovery and financial reconstruction in two stages, the presentation's concrete measures to realize these policies have not been made clear. The two parties need to provide a more understandable explanation of this to voters.
 景気回復と財政再建に2段階で取り組む方針を明示したのは、責任ある態度だが、実現に向けた具体的な道筋は不透明である。より明確な説明が求められよう。

The three opposition parties tout as their top policy priority the support of household budget concerns, such as directly providing child-rearing allowances and free high school education. They aim to increase disposable incomes and spur economic growth through domestic demand. They also say they would leave the current consumption tax rate unchanged until the next lower house election.
 野党3党は、子ども手当、高校無償化など直接給付型の家計支援を最重点施策に掲げた。国民の可処分所得を増やし、内需主導型の成長を目指す。消費税率は次期衆院選まで据え置くという。

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Promises must be paid for

If the opposition parties were to implement these new policies, estimated to cost about 16.8 trillion yen a year, it would indeed bring about a certain expansion in domestic demand. But there is no denying that the ideas presented regarding domestic demand-led growth were made hastily, as evidenced by the common criticisms that the plans are "pork-barrel policies" and "lack future growth strategy."
 年16・8兆円にも上る新規施策を実施すれば、内需拡大に一定の効果は持つだろう。だが、内需主導型の成長戦略は、「ばらまき」「成長戦略がない」との批判を受けて急遽(きゅうきょ)示したもので、“後付け”との印象は否めない。

Since it was first presented, a fundamental question of whether the opposition parties can really secure this 16.8 trillion yen a year only through cuts in wasteful spending has not been cleared up.
 そもそも、16・8兆円もの財源を無駄遣いの排除などだけで本当に捻出(ねんしゅつ)できるのか、という根本的な疑問も解消されていない。