Tag: System

The “Outline” identified the lack of regime change and “the loss of healthy tension” as core problems with Japanese politics and called for the introduction of a single-seat constituency system into Lower House elections. It was a time of great change. Japan’s asset-inflated economy collapsed and the Gulf War broke out. The single-seat system is supposed to create a situation where power periodically changes hands between two major parties as voters give one or the other a strong mandate to rule in response to their policy proposals and political performance. But there have been calls for a serious review of the current system. The ruling camp is fixated on ramming through its policy initiatives on the basis of its political dominance, while the opposition camp can do nothing but put up futile resistance. But the Diet's role is also to monitor the actions at the core of political power and various government organizations. The article gives the Cabinet the power to “convoke extraordinary sessions of the Diet” and stipulates, “When a quarter or more of the total members of either House makes the demand, the Cabinet must determine on such convocation.” This provision enables the Diet to force the Cabinet to convene Diet sessions to ensure that the system of checks and balances works effectively. The Abe administration’s tactical use of abrupt snap elections to its political advantage has left the manifesto-based election, a key component of the political reform, in ruins. The successive Cabinets following the start of the political reform can be grouped into two classes: short-lived Cabinets due to a divided Diet with the opposition camp controlling the Upper House and stable, long-ruling ones.

HELSINKI ? Tight budget constraints for defense have resulted in Swedish opposition leaders questioning the government’s capacity, or willingness, to release sufficient funding to the military to cover the procurement of an American-made Patriot missile system. Sweden has already received clearance from the United States in February 2018 to proceed with a $1 billion deal to acquire a complete Patriot air defense system from Raytheon. Latest organizational strength assessments, produced by the Swedish Armed Forces for the Ministry of Defence, suggest the military will lack adequate funding in 2019-2020 to cover its day-to-day operational needs or to proceed with key procurement programs, including the purchase of Patriot missiles. The Christian Democrats party has threatened to block the deal from proceeding unless the government agrees to create a separate funding vehicle for the Patriot missile program. The party, like the opposition Liberals party, who are generally supportive of the purchase, fear that the military’s operations would be seriously impaired if burdened with such a high-spend acquisition. “It would be good to have a political decision. We stand by our assessment that we and the Defense Materials Organization has made that this is the right way to go. The Patriot missile system is important for the overall defense of Sweden’s air defense,” said Gen. Mikael Bydén, chief of Sweden’s armed forces. Carl Bildt, a former conservative prime minister of Sweden, believes the government has delayed too long in its decision-making process around the procurement. “It would seem that for the government, the procurement of a complete missile system is now about convenience rather than functionality or suitability for the military and Sweden’s air defense.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A campaign finance complaint is questioning how a Republican hopeful for governor is getting political help from his businesses, among other concerns about how he's raising money. The complaint filed Thursday with Tennessee's Registry of Election Finance claims Bill Lee is using his businesses to supplement his campaign without disclosure and beyond limits, including through Lee Company TV ads that feature him. Lee heads Lee Company, which provides services ranging from construction to plumbing. Businessman Randy Boyd rounds out the field of Republican front-runners. The Lee campaign took the complaint as a positive sign. "This is nonsense, clearly the other campaigns are seeing what we're seeing, and they're scared," said Lee campaign spokesman Chris Walker. The complaint against Lee, filed by Dover resident Joe Darke, points out that Lee Company commercials have included Lee, while campaign ads have also touted Lee's company experience. It suggests turning over the information to state and federal officials to investigate. "The only explanation is that he wants to avoid paying income taxes on the money he's spending on his campaign," the complaint states. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press.

NEW YORK (AP) — Billionaire conservative icon David Koch is stepping down from the Koch brothers' network of business and political activities. David Koch is leaving his roles as executive vice president and board member for Koch Industries and a subsidiary, Koch Chemical Technology group, where he served as chairman and chief executive officer. Koch is also stepping down as chairman of the board for the Americans For Prosperity Foundation, the charity related to Koch brothers' primary political organization. He will continue to serve as the CEO of Koch Industries and the unofficial face of the network's political efforts. Democrats have demonized the Koch brothers for their outsized influence in conservative politics over the last decade. Citing concerns about Trump's style and substance, the network refused to endorse either presidential candidate in the 2016 election. And while they have praised Trump's policies on taxes, de-regulation and health care, they have aggressively attacked the Republican administration's trade policies. David Koch, who served as the Libertarian Party's vice presidential candidate in 1980, had begun focus more on philanthropy in recent years. The Manhattan resident donated $150 million to New York City's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in 2015, the largest gift in the organization's history. And David is much more into elective politics than I am."

From George Osborne, the Evening Standard editor and former Conservative chancellor (@George_Osborne) What a bargain this is all turning out to be .... BBC News - Brexit: Technology-based customs system 'could cost £20bn' https://t.co/W6ICo5eE47 From the FT’s Jim Pickard (@PickardJE) Chief executive of HMRC thinks "max fac" could cost companies up to £200bn over a decade: yet Eurosceptic Tory MPs still believe they are *pro business* https://t.co/b7ySOyjQs6 pic.twitter.com/Pja40dFjjT From Hugh Bennett, deputy editor of BrexitCentral (@HughRBennett) HMRC offers hypothetical figure of £17-£20bn cost of customsIn the real world, former Swiss Foreign Secretary Prof Michael Ambuhl says the cost of customs is 0.1% of the value of trade for Switzerland - translates to around £500m a year for the UKhttps://t.co/SE6hUuELmq And Jon Thompson, the HMRC boss, also explained why he thought the new customs partnership (NCP) proposal could cost business nothing once it was up and running. (@jrmaidment) Downing Street says HMRC estimate that max fac Brexit customs option could cost businesses £20bn is “speculation”. The question is, how much does it cost to complete a customs declaration? The highly streamlined option is going to cost businesses £32.50, approximately, per customs declaration. That’s a cost of between £17bn and £20bn a year. She says the “max fac” customs system would involve firms having to pay £32.50 per customs declaration. This would cost them up between £17bn and £20bn a year, she says. (@jl_owen) HMRC say Max Fac could cost business up to £20bn...Last September, we @instituteforgov looked at potential costs - declarations alone could cost business up to £9bn pic.twitter.com/ecUlz3sXPx Thompson confirms that HMRC has asked firms to sign non-disclosure agreements before it discusses with them how customs arrangements might work after Brexit. Thompson says the “max fac” system could cost business between £17bn and £20bn. HMRC says “max fac” customs system preferred by Brexiters could cost business up to £20bn.