"The principle of government is to think of the people first and the nation second." ? ancient Chinese war leader Moushi The administrations of Koizumi and Abe have it backward: Nation first, people somewhere after second.

　　The Koizumi and Abe coalition governments have been aggressively pushing the destruction of medical treatment under the banner of "fiscal reconstruction." They are placing the people "somewhere after second," or, put another way, they are sacrificing us.
　　There must be something the government and the Finance Ministry could do in the name of reducing fiscal spending before they destroy the nation's medical services, increase the onus on Japan's citizens and raise their taxes. They shouldn't be spending on the US military reorganization, and they should cut defense spending before they slice into our health care. They could also postpone tax cuts for large corporations. In fact, before they increase the onus on the citizens and raise their taxes, the government should be raising taxes on the profitable large companies.
　　The Koizumi and Abe coalition governments are just plain wrong with their philosophy of "the nation before all else."
　　Japan should aim for a European-style political economy, where medical treatment and social welfare are treated with importance. The American-style law of the jungle doesn't fit Japan. The administrations of Koizumi and now Abe have been trying to Americanize Japan and make US President George W. Bush happy by changing the economy, but this is like mixing oil and water.
　　In the second half of the 1990s, European countries were spending about 10% of their national income on medical treatment and supplies. Japan spent at the 7.5% level in 2004. According to 1998 figures, France spent 10.1%, Germany spent 10.5% and Sweden was at 9.3%. It would take 9 trillion yen to reach European levels of medical spending. Cut defense and other spending by 9 trillion yen and add it to medical treatment, and Japan would have a welfare society comparable to Europe.
　　With just these steps, we'd erase the onus on the patient, raise the insurance companies' share of medical expenses by 10% and begin to reverse the doctor shortage. The government should worry less about raising defense spending and step in to halt the destruction of our medical care system. Creating a medical system that puts the people at ease should be the government's priority.
　　The American and Japanese (coalition) governments and large corporations are trying to wring what they can from the people's private property. That's what is meant when the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito Party talk about "putting the nation first.'
　　This is the season of elections. If the citizens vote for the LDP and Komeito candidates, it's as if they're committing suicide. We also have to make Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara disappear.