S.F. socialist candidates heartened by vote totals

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Sylvia Weinstein speaking at Oct. 13 Board of Education candidate's forum in Sar SOCIALIST ACTION DECEMBER 1988 ≤ By JONI Despite the lowest voter turnout since 1924, Socialist Action candidates in San Francisco scored their biggest electoral vote total ever.

Joseph Ryan, candidate for Board of Supervisors, received over 11,000 votes while Sylvia Weinstein, candidate for Board of Education, received over 21,000. Weinstein more than doubled her vote total of 1986.

More than 9000 campaign brochures and 1500 posters were distributed during the course of the campaign. This happened at a time when interest in the city elections seemed to be at a low. Many community meetings attended by Ryan and Weinstein had fewer than 30 people.

Although San Francisco city elections are nonpartisan, Ryan and Weinstein ran openly as socialists and promoted a socialist program. Calling for a 30-hour work week at 40 hours' pay to end unemployment and stabilizing rent at 10 percent of a person's income, Ryan and Weinstein tapped into the voters' growing dissatisfaction with the twocapitalist-party system.

Campaign under investigation In a related event, Socialist Action remains under investigation by the District Attorney's office for non-disclosure of campaign contributors' names and addresses. Socialist Action contends that disclosure would expose their contributors to harassment, violating their rights to privacy, free speech, and free association. Socialist organizations have been exempt from disclosure laws following a Supreme Court decision in 1983.

The District Attorney contends, however, that socialists in San Francisco have no reason to fear harassment and are therefore not exempt from the disclosure laws.

At a press conference on Nov. 3, Ryan presented Assistant District Attorney George Beckwith with extensive documentation of government harassment of dissident political parties in the San Francisco area. The documentation also included incidents of illegal government surveillance of labor unions, antiwar groups, and feminists.

Ryan said that disclosure laws are not effective and penalize small campaigns. He said that rich candidates get around the laws by hiding contributions in political action committees. This makes it virtually impossible to trace money to its source, and does not stop elections from being "bought."

According to Ryan, Socialist Action ran the most honest campaign in the San Francisco election. "We told people right READ MY POSITION PAPERS away what we are," he said.

"We are socialists. We think that society should be run in the interests of working people-not the rich."

So far the case has garnered modest press coverage. In a front-page article in the daily San Francisco Progress, Beckwith admits that Socialist Action has acted "in good faith" by supplying his office with material relevant to the case. He states, however, that charges READ ME OUT - CUCKcollapsing, requiring a bail-out of close to $15 billion per year. Heavily indebted Latin American countries may soon be forced to cancel billions in interest payments they owe to U.S. banks. German and Japanese capitalists might reduce their willingness to finance the U.S. debt.

As the dollar falls on the world market, thus making U.S. goods cheaper, the pressure to increase interest rates accelerates to attract more foreign investment. This in turn will lead to a repetition of the never-before-seen "stagflation" of the early 1970s—a "slowed down" economy combined with rising inflation.

And, of course, always lurking in the background is the $152 billion federal budget deficit—a budget that by edict of the GrammRudman Law is supposed to be balanced by 1993.

pay?

The U.S. government is not the only institution that's out of money. Corporations have laden themselves with huge debts while pursuing frenzied buy-outs of other corporations. After losing over $1.2 trillion in the Oct. 19, 1987, stock market crash, any precipitous move by the government-like INSIDE ECONOMY Firmest Mante.

analyses the -loch prtenti.:p.n:

intertiatond USSR Corhacher a sperrt e nen mastification of MICIAL PRATURE LIBERATION THEOLOGY tosanh Duan Socialist Actior may yet be filed.

Socialist Action has stated that it will not reverse its position and intends to take any legal action necessary to protect the rights of its contributors The American Civil Liberties Union has expressed interest in representing Socialist Action in any litigation that may result from the District Attorney's demand for disclosure.

higher interest rates—could spell doom.

The so-called "peace and prosperity" that Bush bragged about is nothing more than a house of cards built on a foundation of sand. What economists fear the most is that one ill wind could topple the whole structure.

During the election campaign, neither Bush nor Dukakis would address this question. That's because no matter who won the election the same program would be implemented. For example, the Farmers Home Administration delayed sending foreclosure notices to 85,000 family farmers until after the election.

The money to balance the budget and pay the debts has to come from the hides of working people. The ruling-class program calls for an increase in taxes on consumer items like tobacco and gasoline, combined with a reduction in entitlement programs like social security.

In this sense, a large proportion of working people knew instinctively that the 1988 presidential election was nothing more that the changing of the guard on the executive committee of the capitalist class. But the best laid plans of mice and men. ... diernational NO 130 November 23. 1987 C0 85. 82: CS2 50.1278 A biweekly magazine published under the auspices of the Fourth International.

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