We Screw Up -- But You Pay!

If I lived in Japan, I think I would be fit to be tied. Not only would I have to be dealing with the damage caused by the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis, but now I would have just learned that the government thinks I need to pay for TEPCO's misdeeds!

Japanese consumers would be on the hook for nuclear damage payments and earthquake reconstruction costs under two tax plans the government is considering, officials said Tuesday.

The Kyodo News agency said one plan would raise electricity customers' charges to help cover claims against Tokyo Electric Power Co. from people who suffer losses from the crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The increase would come in the form of a higher electricity source-development tax, which is collected from customers as part of their electricity bills.

TEPCO must pay people forced to evacuate from the region surrounding the nuclear plant, but officials said the power company may not be able to pay all the claims.

"While TEPCO will be primarily responsible for damages payments, the government may have to support the firm," Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Banri Kaieda told a press conference Tuesday. "We are considering taxation, the electricity charge and other measures to enable the government to shoulder some of the burden."

A second plan would raise to 8 percent Japan's current 5-percent consumption tax for about three years, Kyodo said. The extra $273 billion ($22.5 trillion yen) would pay for reconstruction of the country's northeastern region, said senior lawmakers in the Democratic Pary of Japan...

Isn't this how it always seems to go? A corporation puts its profits ahead of the public's health and safety and the government allows it to happen, but, when something goes wrong, the citizens are forced to bail out the corporation!

The same thing is happening in the Gulf of Mexico. Yes, BP indeed is shouldering SOME of the costs, but we all know that you and I will end up footing most of the bill.

It doesn't seem to matter where a person lives. It doesn't seem to matter what type of political system is utilized. When you and I screw up, the justice system expects us to pay for our own misdeeds, but when the rich and powerful mess up -- particularly when there have been many warnings that their actions might lead to catastrophe -- they, by and large, are allowed off the hook.

It sucks.