Now, That's a Good Budget Plan

Why can't we hear Western leaders, including allegedly "right-wing" ones like George W. Bush, Fredrik Reinfeldt and Angela Merkel issue plans of the kind Japan's Shinzo Abe have now issued, with a "strong commitment" to cut government spending? From Bloomberg News:

"Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government will make ``a large reduction'' in bond sales in the fiscal year that starts April 1.

``We will make a large reduction in bond issuance and we will overhaul and cut spending and eliminate unneeded expenditure,'' Abe told reporters today in Tokyo. ``We will push for these goals rigorously, with a strong commitment.''

The world's second-biggest economy grew at a faster-than- expected 2 percent pace in the three months ended Sept. 30, expanding for the seventh straight quarter.

Abe also said the government will try to limit spending in this fiscal year's supplementary budget on disaster rehabilitation projects and avoid public works that are aimed at propping up economic growth."

Great, although I would seriously dispute that Japan's extremely oversized "public work" projects really propps up growth. Although they have been reduced in recent years, they are still much larger than in other countries and certainly much larger than is neede, creating a opening for the Japanese government to reduce the country's large budget deficit through spending cuts, rather than tax increases.