Carter Unleashes Us

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Described last week by one commentator as a "banana skin President" because of his tendency to fall over whichever way he goes, Jimmy Carter faces a grim situation at home and abroad.

Internationally neither his sabre rattling, nor his catastrophic attempt at actual armed intervention,, nor his wheedling diplomatic overtures have succeeded in their purpose of containing and subduing mounting anti-imperialist struggles in the Middle East, Central America and the Caribbean.

But at home Carter has been driven by the runaway economic crisis to unleash a major recession in élection year.

The recession has been long expected-and longed for by bankers and speculators who had impatiently demanded that Carter take such firm anti-working class action to restore stability to the dollar, reduce soaring interest rates and curb inflation.

As the first signs of the slump became apparent the profiteers went wild with joy: the stock market boomed in New York, London and Tokyo; Us bankers began cutting their lending rates; and the dollar gained in strength.

But of course not everyone was celebrating-there were Carter gloomy faces even amongst the American bourgeoisie. The slump in the car industry makes it increasingly doubtful if the Chrysler corporation -which lost $400 million in the first quarter of this year-can survive.

Chrysler layoffs, together with those of the other two major US car giants, Ford and General Motors, now total nearly 300,000-one carworker in every four is now laid off.

The impact of this is beginning to be felt in other indus tries and on the major carproducing centres.

Detroit -'motor city' -is fast becoming a ghost town. And new steel orders have fallen 50% in little over a monthheralding a new orund of layoffs and closures in the crisisbound US steel industry.

The slump in the housing industry appears to be the worst since the 1930s, and consumer spending appears to have fallen back-with profound implications for wide sections of US As one banker pointed out "I don't know who they'll be, but there are other Chryslers out there."

But if the slump brings problems for some employers, it certainly means hard times for the American working class.

Unemployment shot up by a staggering 827,000 in the single month of March-rising from 6.2% to 7%. Since this is only the first stage in the recession it can be expected that unempioyment in the US will rise to at least 9-10 million.

New factory orders are falling, stocks of unsold goods and unused materials are rising, and the average working week is falling as the economy grinds into low gear.

But Carter is doing his best to press forward the recession with a vicious package of government spending cuts that will have a dramatic impact on US cities.

Austerity

In hard-pressed Detroit the administration is planning an 11% cutback in the city workforce-including the sacking of 700 policemen-as the money runs out. The pattern of austerity and cuts is echoed throughout the USA.

A recent survey showed 75 out of 100 cities facing a financial squeeże as a result of Carter's decision to lop $1.7 billion from the Federal revenue sharing scheme, $625 million off transport subsidies, and further sums off job creation and training schemes which keep thousands of municipal employees on the payroll.

New York city alone stands to lose 6435 million in Federal aid as a result of these cutsadded to an existing deficit of 8677 million for the year.

Carter's axe is not restricted to city halls: he is slashing $1.7 billion from fuel subsidies and $800 million from the Federal food stamps schemeboth of which benefit exclusively the most oppressed and poverty-stricken layers of the US working class.

But there is little sign that even these draconian attacks will have any impact on the US inflation rate-currently running near the 20% mark.

Carter however, noticeable way or price rises.

The plan involves a cut of 10 billion zlatys (about £200 million) and involves the loss of 36,000 jobs even on the regime's estimates.

Though the bureaucracy says the job cuts will happen through natural wastage it is clear that they will create significant unemployment.

And that implies that the already numerous signs of open mass opposition to the Polish bureaucracy will continue to grow.

some consolation: in launching these attacks on workers in election year he knows full well that his main rival-the geriatric Ronald Reagan—is unable to put forward any more attractive alternative.

And with the evident failure of Edward Kennedy to con more than a small percentage of Democratic voters that he offers any coherent challenge to Carter on basic issues, the President has been able to weather every disaster so far and emerge as top dog in the primary elections.

of relief But while bourgeois leaders breathe a sigh of relief that voters are still willing to trek out and support one of the two capitalist parties that effectively monopolise US political life, there are increasing signs of the alienation of workers and youth -many of whom make up the regular massive abstention in US In particular Carter's Cold War offensive and preparations for military adventures on a world scale have drawn forth a growing Beginning on the composes bet rapidly reaching into the unions.

The challenge now before US workers is to build and politically develop the movement-to show the links between Carter's war drive and the requirements of US capitalism at home and abroad.

On this basis the campaign must be stepped up to force the unions to break from the twin capitalist parties-Republican and Democrat-and commit their resources to building a mass Labour Party to defend the independent interests of the working class.

Within such a party revolutionaries would fight for a programme of democratic and transitional demands designed to mobilise workers in the struggle for a workers government and the establishment of a planned socialist economy in the USA.

Reagan