[(continued from page 1) alternatives-and on many crucial…]

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(continued from page 1: “Elections are over, austerity lies ahead”)

alternatives-and on many crucial issues, no alternative at all." This correct but platonic assessment by the Progressive reflects the frustration of trying to build a "left wing" inside the Democratic Party.

All those who rallied around Jesse Jackson's bid to win the Democratic Party presidential nomination now have a bitter taste in their mouths. The trek from the illusions in Jackson to the reality of Dukakis must have been a painful one.

When George Bush attacked Dukakis for being "soft on defense," the Democratic Party candidate responded by being photographed while driving a new MX tank. When Bush said Dukakis was "soft on terrorism," Dukakis announced that he would support pre-emptive military strikes against "terrorist" bases. When Bush accused Dukakis of being "too liberal," Dukakis retorted, "No! I'm a moderate."

And then, only two weeks before election day, Dukakis emerged from his cocoon and became a "flaming liberal," albeit a dollar short and a day late. All of a sudden, when it was too late to matter, he started to talk about his concern for working people and the oppressed.

After all, the capitalist political party shell game had to be preserved for the 1992 Continuity in crisis Many capitalist political analysts are saying that Bush's election victory is a further confirmation of the "rightward drift" of the American people. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Polls indicate that the majority of Americans are for a cut in the so-called defense budget and an increase in funds devoted to improving social services. The majority are against U.S. aid to the contras. The majority state they support a woman's right to abortion. They want solutions to the plight of the poor and the homeless.

But none of these burning issues were addressed by either capitalist candidate, and consciously so.

Furthermore, the looming crisis of the U.S. economy was avoided like the plague by both candidates. Despite the victory of the Republican candidate, the stock market plunged 110 points between Nov. 3 and Nov. 20. In doom-and-gloom language that socialists are usually accused of using, many prominent U.S. economic analysts are wringing their hands about the future.

A refreshingly frank, but brutally apocalyptic, article published in the Nov. 20, 1988, San Francisco Examiner, begins with the conclusions of many capitalist analysts: "After six years of economic expansion built on enormous public and private debt, the faceless fear of a great American financial collapse is beginning to take on some ugly features."

Roger Robinson, former senior director for international economics in Reagan's National Security Council, believes " 1989 could be the year" for an economic recession.

President-elect Bush credited his Pyhrric electoral victory to the eight years of "peace and prosperity" of the Reagan administration. Now it is revealed that the economy contains so many ticking time bombs that economic analysts fear a chain reaction of explosions.

The crisis faced by the U.S. capitalist class and its new chief executive is many-sided. The bankrupt savings-and-loan system is

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Management at the Fernald nuclear weapons plant has systematically poisoned workers and resiRenoron.

ILS TER 0 and yOur CINCINNATI-Since the early 1950s, the Feed Materials Production Center in Fernald, Ohio, has poured hundreds of tons of radioactive materials into the environment. This installation, owned by the Department of Energy (DOE) and operated by private contractors, processes uranium for use in nuclear weapons.

The innocuous sounding name (rather like a farm "feed-and-seed" store) belies the deadly reality of the plant. It is estimated that over 230 tons of radioactive material have gone up the stacks or leaked into the surrounding water supply. This does not include a missing 337 tons of uranium hexafluoride.

The plant is just a few miles northwest of Cincinnati. It opened in 1951 and was operated for the government by National Lead Co. of Ohio (NLO) until 1985, when Westinghouse took over.

From the very beginning, both NLO and the government knew of the escape of hazardous materials into the surrounding environment and intentionally lied to their own workers and to the surrounding inhabitants about the dangers involved.

Since 1951, it has been estimated by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency that over 12-million pounds of uranium and 176,000 pounds of thorium have been dumped into the six large disposal pits.

By the the early 1960s, the operators of the plant suspected that the disposal pits were leaking into the surrounding groundwater. By 1962, NLO knew for sure that radioactive and chemical wastes had contaminated a creek running through the plant.

In 1974 and 1978, NLO warned the government, but not the public, about groundwater contamination. In 1983, uranium was found in private wells in the area.

In 1987, the Fernald plant released by 6 SOCIALIST ACTIO FERN • sir 2.. conservative estimate) 1775 pounds of uranium and 491,890 pounds of toxic chemicals into the surrounding air and water. The Oct. 31, 1988, edition of The Cincinnati Enquirer revealed that the threat from hazardous chemicals stored at the plant could pose an even greater immediate health hazard than the nuclear waste.

Government admits liability The government has admitted that it knew of many of these problems and did nothing. In fact during some of the years when radioactive leaks were a problem, the government was giving NLO large bonuses.

The New York Times stated in an Oct. 26 article, "Thus, a contractor that scored low marks on environmental programs could gain excellent evaluations and high bonuses if it did well in meeting production goals." In 1984, NLO received a bonus of $1,306,955 for "delivering uranium on time, in improving productivity generally and in keeping costs down."

Fourteen unions are currently on strike at the Fernald plant and production is shut down. One of the issues in the strike is 300 grievances against Westinghouse, most on safety issues. Another is the reduction in job classifications, also seen as a safety issue. And, Westinghouse wants to reduce long-term health benefits.

It is estimated that more than half of the long-time workers at the plant have been exposed to some uranium.

The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found a relationship between exposure and medical problems. Some workers could not even walk 100 yards without stopping to catch their breath. More than half had also been exposed to radioactive thorium and other chemical toxics. One-fourth had restricted lung function.

On "The Phil Donahue Show," broadcast from the Fernald area a few days I DECEMBER 1988 after the revelations were made, a special education professor from Miami University in nearby Oxford, Ohio, stated that whole neighborhoods were seen full of genetic handicaps instead of the normal one in a million.

Large numbers of Americans have seen the Zinser family in Time magazine and on "The Phil Donahue Show." The Zinsers owned a garden near the Fernald processing plant, and their two sons contracted cancer.

The youngest, two years old, had to have a rer cincinnati Enquirer leg amputated. The amputated leg contained 10 times more uranium than would usually be accumulated over a lifetime.

Residents file suit As if the medical threat to life was not enough, many of those people living closest to the plant are, in effect, being held hostage by the plant. Property values have decreased drastically, and many cannot afford to take losses that amount to By HAYDEN PERRY California voters have delivered a stunning setback to the predatory insurance industry that has been squeezing working people for decades. The voters cut through an unprecedented $70-million campaign of confusion and fear to defeat four propositions the insurance industry favored. Instead, they approved the one initiative the insurance moguls bitterly opposed.

Proposition 103, voted into law, requires an immediate rollback of 20 percent from November 1987 levels in auto, property, and casualty rates. An additional 20-percent reduction will be given to good drivers.

These rates cannot be increased before November 1989, unless the insurance company can prove insolvency. All rate increases must be approved by an insurance commissioner, who will be elected. The insurance companies will no longer be exempt from anti-trust laws.

In recent years, the insurance companies have jacked up their rates considerably. Motorists who have never had an accident are paying as much as $1600 a year for auto insurance. When consumers went to the state capital to seek relief, they found the insurance lobbyists were there already.

The multibillion-dollar insurance/casualty game has a number of conflicting players. Trial lawyers seek large contingency fees, the medical industry wants to get its cut from accident victims, while the insurance moguls want to reduce claims to the minimum.

The lawmakers did not want to offend any of these powerful interests, so it did nothing. This led to the War of Initiatives. thousands of dollars.

The local residents, in their majority, favor closing the Fernald plant. In addition, a $300-million class-action lawsuit has been filed against NLO on behalf of the 14,000 people who live or work within a five-mile radius of the plant.

One of the reasons the Department of Energy has confessed to large-scale bungling and lying is to undermine the suit. The government is saying, "You cannot sue NLO because they were just following government orders, and you cannot sue the government."

The blame really belongs both to the government and to the private contractors that ran the plant. If NLO was as moral as it claims to be, why didn't it just refuse to operate the plant until the government paid for the repairs that were needed? Because it was making a big profit, that's why!

The contractors and the government made the mess. They should be made to close the plant permanently, cease the production and use of hazardous materials, and start an immediate clean-up.

Extensive testing should be conducted of workers and residents who may have been contaminated by the plant. Workers and residents should be reimbursed for all health and medical expenses, emotional distress, lost property values, and moving expenses.

But an even greater problem has to be tackled at the same time. The production of materials for nuclear weapons and power plants must be stopped. Fernald is only one link in the government's nuclear chain.

As long as nuclear weapons are being produced and nuclear power plants are being built, this problem will not end.

These kind of solutions will not come about as a result of the good will of the government or the contractors. It will take large numbers of people mobilized in the streets to stop the nuclear menace.

Off and on throughout recent years, local anti-nuclear groups have demonstrated at the plant and called for its closing.

Fernald residents have their own group called FRESH (Fernald Residents for Environmental Safety and Health) that has protested against the plant.

The greater Cincinnati area has mobilized large numbers of people against nuclear power in general. A few years ago, a large movement was successful in stopping the opening of a large nuclearpower plant just west of the city. The plant is now being converted to coal.

The victims of nuclear weapons production won't settle for anything less with regard to the Fernald plant.

The insurance companies paid for not one but four propositions, each reflecting one or another insurance concern. Consumers then weighed in with Proposition 103.

Out of the fog of confusion and falsehoods, one thing became clear to the voters. Proposition 103 was opposed by the insurance interests and supported by Ralph Nader. They went for the slogan "103 is the one for me," rejected the other four, and left the giant insurance industry flat on its back— for the moment.

Like sore losers, the insurance companies have gone to court to halt implementation of the new law. Some companies have raised premiums on new policies 20 percent to nullify the intent of the rollback.

Despite the delaying tactics now in force, the people have won an important victory. They have demonstrated that workers can vote in their interest despite a campaign of thousands of lies and millions of dollars.

They can also counter new lies and threats by the insurance companies. The insurance interests wail they are losing money. Supporters of the successful proposition say, "Let them open their books and prove it!"

Some of the insurance giants have threatened to pull out of California if Proposition 103 is allowed to stand. Working people can fight back by demanding the state government immediately freeze the assets in California of the insurance corporations.

Ultimately, the insurance industry must be nationalized under workers control. In addition, a universal system of free health and medical care must be provided. Human needs must come before profits.