Deja vous, as the poncey say, but Our Man thought we were supposed to enjoy a little of that sweet smell of freedom for a little longer than a month. But, no seems our new improved whiter than white politicians have been up to their grubby necks in it all along. Yep, remember the white knights (that would be the Democratic Party of Japan) who came to slay the evil taxpayer-wasting pols of the Liberal Democratic Party (you know, Aso and the evil ones?)...
Er, well turns out Satsuki Eda, the DPJ head of the Upper House, and a couple of his mates have been blowing millions of yen at hostess clubs and then having the barefaced cheek (so to speak) to claim them as legit political expenses (they claimed about $25,000). But don't worry, no taxpayer money was used for this purpose, we are assured by party bigwigs.
Uh-huh. Well, we can take that as gospel then. Money (whose?) well spent. Let's hope they did indeed use their own salary. Oh, wait that would be paid for by us - even us gaijin who can't vote and haven't been to a good hostess club in donkeys' years :(
And what a salary they do get - around $110,000 a year, if Our Man remembers right from Ampontin here - who when he's not berating journos for writing entertaining copy or deleting Our Man's comments, can actually make a good point or two.
OK, the case for the defence:
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4 comments:
Not to ruin a good rant, but if they paid for it out of their own salary then that's their own business, right? Just because "the public" paid the salary doesn't mean the public should have a say in how they spend it.
Do you want your company to have a veto on how you spend your own cash?
Now, if the question is on the appropriateness of elected officials hitting night clubs then that's another matter - and one resolved (ideally) at the voting booth. Let me hazard a guess that with a substantial part of the electorate similarly interested in said kind of clubs, it will not have much of an impact.
Look at it like this: under the LDP regime they'd've probably blown those millions yen on damming a small stream on the outskirts of Tokyo. At least the money is now going to supporting the service industry and possibly some immigrant workers, upon both of which the economy will increasingly depend, rather than propping up the outdated construction sector.
Our Man's objection is not out of some puritanical sense of morality, quite the reverse. He's just jealous he never gets the chance to burn cash on hostess bars. Not fair!
'At least the money is now going to supporting the service industry and possibly some immigrant workers, upon both of which the economy will increasingly depend, rather than propping up the outdated construction sector.'
I agree,yeah,free moeny should go on pizza and beer.
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