社会保障改革 与謝野氏軸に政府案を急げ

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Jan. 21, 2011)
Govt must compile pension plan quickly
社会保障改革　与謝野氏軸に政府案を急げ（1月20日付・読売社説）

The nation's social security system has become highly distorted, due to the aging population and low birthrate. 　社会保障制度は少子高齢化で、随所に歪(ゆが)みが生じている。

We must not waste any time reforming the system.
改革に一刻の猶予も許されない。

The government has decided to compile a plan with the ruling parties by June for integrated reform of the social security and tax systems, and it hopes to have discussions between the ruling and opposition parties over pension reform on track by then.
　政府が社会保障と税の一体改革について、６月に政府・与党案をまとめる方針を決定した。それまでに与野党協議をレールに乗せたいという。

A system for promoting discussion appears to be in place--Kaoru Yosano, state minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy, will be responsible for compiling the plan, and Koichiro Gemba, state minister in charge of national policy, will serve as the go-between for negotiations with the ruling and opposition parties.
　政府・与党案とりまとめは与謝野経済財政相、与野党との窓口には玄葉国家戦略相があたるなど役割分担も決まった。まずは推進体制を整えたということだろう。

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Yosano opposed by many

Fierce opposition has arisen to Yosano's appointment as a Cabinet minister within both the ruling and opposition parties, as Yosano has strongly criticized the Democratic Party of Japan's stance on reform of the social security system in the past.
　民主党の姿勢を厳しく批判してきた与謝野氏の入閣に対して、与野党双方から反発が出ている。

The only way for him to deal with such opposition is to swiftly and steadily achieve tangible results.
与謝野氏は、迅速かつ着実に成果をあげることで応えるしかない。

Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who recruited Yosano, must be prepared for the worst and create an environment in which Yosano can take bold steps.
　起用した菅首相もここは腹をくくって、与謝野氏が思い切った仕事のできる環境を作るべきだ。

The central points of discussion on social security system reform are the public pension system and the consumption tax.
　社会保障改革の議論の中心は、年金制度と消費税である。

The first step will be the government and the ruling parties' attempt to reach a consensus regarding the plan to reform the pension system.
　政府・与党が年金改革案について意思統一を図ることが、その第一歩となる。

Regarding the source of funds for pension reform, there is a strong opinion within the DPJ that as the party has been advocating a basic pension to be financed entirely by tax revenues, the DPJ's stance is utterly incompatible with that of Yosano, who wants to maintain the current method that uses contributions to social insurance.
　民主党内には、年金改革の財源について「党としては従来、“全額税方式”を唱えてきたのだから現行の社会保険方式維持を主張する与謝野氏とは全く相いれない」とする声が根強く存在する。

Yet the DPJ has been subtly modifying its explanation of its pension reform plan from the one it drew up for its manifesto for the House of Representatives election in 2009, in which it came to power.
　だが、民主党は政権交代を果たした衆院選の政権公約（マニフェスト）から、年金改革案の説明を微妙に修正している。

The party has modified its stance by saying that while the government should create a minimum guaranteed pension financed entirely by tax revenues, it should be a supplement to another new creation: a common national pension financed by social insurance contributions.
These two systems would comprise the basic pension.
　全額税による最低保障年金を創設はするが、それは同時に新設する社会保険方式の国民共通年金を補完するもの、という位置づけに変えた。

Overall, the party is leaning toward using social insurance contributions.
全体としてはむしろ、社会保険方式に傾いている。

Meanwhile, Yosano's pet idea is to fix the defects of the current system, financed by social insurance contributions, and then use tax revenues to implement supportive measures for people with small pensions.
　一方、与謝野氏の持論は、社会保険方式の現行制度の不備を改善した上で、年金額が低い人には税金を用いた支援措置を講じる、というものだ。

It is a matter of balancing the use of social insurance contributions and tax revenues, and the two ideas overlap each other in many respects. A compromise is quite possible.
　保険料と税のバランスの問題であり、大枠は重なっている。十分に妥協点は見いだしうる。

The government should win DPJ members' consent by discussing the issue, focusing on the realistic method of using social insurance contributions.
　政府は、現実的な社会保険方式を基本に議論することで、民主党内の合意を得るべきだ。

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Ideas largely similar

The pension reform plans being considered by opposition parties such as the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito do not differ significantly from Yosano's ideas.
　自民、公明など野党側の考える年金改革案も与謝野氏の考え方と大きな違いはない。

The only way to realize a sustainable pension system is to secure a stable source of financing by raising the consumption tax rate.
　持続可能な制度を実現するためには、消費税率を引き上げることでしか安定財源を確保する手だてはない。

Both sides should be able to agree on these points during discussions.
議論の過程でこうした認識も再確認できるはずである。

Unless the public pension system is stable even several decades from now, public concern over the system will remain.
　年金制度は何十年先まで安定したものでなければ、国民の不安は解消しない。

The ruling and opposition parties must work out a reform plan quickly, lest the system change every time there is a change of government.
政権交代のたびに制度が変わることのないよう、与野党で早急に改革案を練り上げなければならない。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Jan. 20, 2011)
（2011年1月20日01時19分 読売新聞）