The head of the government's Tax Commission came under fire Wednesday for saying a day earlier that raising the consumption tax by 3 percentage points as suggested by internal affairs minister Heizo Takenaka is "too small" to get rid of the national debt.
Senior officials of the ruling coalition, the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito, fumed at the meeting because Chairman Hiromitsu Ishi's comments Tuesday could not have come at a worse time: The launch of official campaigning for the April 23 House of Representatives by-election for the Chiba No. 7 constituency.
The officials said the remark could give the Democratic Party of Japan an edge in the by-election.