Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki boasts that the draft budget for fiscal 2005 is a big step toward fiscal health, describing it as a ``milestone.''

At least one critic agrees the budget could be a milestone-one that leads Japan to a collapse like the fall of the Roman Empire.

Taxpayers, meanwhile, feel like they are being fed to the lions.

Nearly everyone will be affected by the increased social security costs reflected in the budget draft, which marks the beginning of an era of heightened pain for taxpayers.

To fix the depleted pension system, the government raised employees' premiums in October and will increase premiums for the national pension program in April.

The nursing care insurance program will be reviewed in 2005-likely leading to an additional financial burden on the public.

The draft budget presented Monday goes even further. It spells out increases in educational expenses and welfare service costs along with cuts in tax credits on housing loans and other breaks.

One example is a change next October to have elderly people at special nursing-care homes pay for meals and accommodation. A large chunk of those costs is now covered by public nursing care insurance.

The change would require elderly people with certain levels of income to pay an extra 30,000 yen a month.

Welfare workers are clearly worried about the government's plans.

``If one member of an elderly couple lives in a nursing home and the other at home, the impact would be great because it means they have to pay double accommodations,'' said one worker.

Another worker fears that elderly people victimized by domestic violence may have no choice but to stay home to avoid the increased costs of staying at a nursing care facility.

While the Finance Ministry claims it is moving to eradicate the nation's debts, it has approved budget allocations in one traditional area-public works. Tax money will be used to build new Shinkansen sections and construct a second runway at the chronically indebted Kansai International Airport.

A comment from a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Monday underscores the sense of crisis felt toward the huge welfare spending-about 20 trillion yen of the 47 trillion yen in general expenditures.

``As it is, Japan will be a Roman Empire,'' the lawmaker told a meeting of welfare-related officials of the LDP, alluding to the fall of the empire as it weakened under snowballing fiscal spending. ``We must discuss increasing people's burden more squarely from the front.''

Programs to support people with disabilities are not exempted from the burden. Revisions scheduled for January 2006 will require users of services for disabled people to cover 10 percent of the costs. Residents at facilities for disabled people will have to pay for their meals.

An extra benefit in the livelihood welfare aid for those 70 years or older will be slashed from 9,670 yen a month to 3,760 yen.

Among the few increased benefits will be an expansion of child-care support programs, such as nurseries, to shore up the sagging birthrate.

But couples will have less to spend.

Halving the fixed-rate tax breaks next fiscal year is part of the government's efforts to meet inflating social security costs as the nation's population rapidly grays.

Next year's tax increase will be used to fund an additional 110 billion yen needed for the government's share for the basic portion of the public pension payouts.

The reduction in the fixed-rate tax credits will translate into a tax increase of 41,000 yen a year for a family of four earning an annual 7 million yen.

Tax credits for housing loans will also be smaller-the maximum deduction of 5 million yen over 10 years from taxable income will be pared to 3.6 million yen in January.

According to the NLI Research Institute, the total increase in the burden on households from social security and tax reforms will reach 1.8 trillion yen in fiscal 2005.

But that apparently isn't enough. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare expects a further tax increase.

``We think (a rise in) the consumption tax is appropriate as a revenue source for financing pension payouts as it can be counted upon for a stable revenue,'' said a senior ministry official.(IHT/Asahi: December 22,2004)