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2023-12-18 This kickback scheme destroys the Political Funding Regulation Law principle, which states that "the flow of funds for political activities should all be made visible. [長年日記]

Under the Political Funds Control Law, the total amount that an individual can donate to a political party is limited to 20 million yen per year. In comparison, donations made by an individual to the same political organization are limited to 1.5 million yen per year.

The problem is that 'donors who donate 50,000 yen or less in a year and payers of political fund parties of 200,000 yen or less do not have to be listed in the income and expenditure report.

In short, party tickets are truly a "delicious" system for both (1) politicians who want to avoid having their contributions listed and (2) their vested interests.

Or rather, the reality is that the law was "deliciously" designed.

If written in the style of a patent specification, it would be called "a device for producing a backing, or a method for producing a backing.

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However, it is also a bit harsh to assume this.

The people of our country do not want to declare their support for a political party to others, nor do they want to be exposed to the "distance" of a politician.

The 'less than \50,000 and less than \200,000' is nothing less than a buffer to that.

And it is a national trait of our country that connecting with politicians is seen as a "vice" - or rather, having witnessed the Lockheed, Sagawa Express, and Recruiting scandals in real-time, I think it is inevitable that politicians are seen as "bad people."

This is a bad loop.

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Breaking this loop is relatively simple: make it mandatory to list and report all donations of one yen or more.

We even clarified that 'there was a donation of 300 yen from an elementary school student's annual allowance,' and personal information is protected by the Personal Information Protection Law (where it can be anonymous).

In other words, the origin of the money remains unknown, but all information on the deposit side is disclosed down to the penny.

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However, the kickback problem is like a "table-flipping" to all these above considerations.

This kickback scheme destroys the Political Funding Regulation Law principle, which states that "the flow of funds for political activities should all be visible.

I understand the politicians' thirst for 'unmonitored money for free political activity.

It's not hard to understand, with the lowly examples of "bellybutton money that the husband doesn't know about" and "side income that the wife doesn't know about."

However, political activities should be related to the people's interests and not be discussed in the same paradigm as the above treatment of private interests.

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Members of parliament are sometimes referred to as "rule makers" and the ruling party as the "ruling party."

The people (I, as one of them) can't be helped if the rule-makers are breaking the rules.

So, why don't I "make it mandatory to list and report all donations of one yen or more"?

I feel that now is the time for the Digital Agency to move forward under the "Digitalization of Political Contributions."