http://yjdraiman.org
Building a Culture of Accountability
Firstly, let us clarify what culture is?
Culture is embodied in the phrase "this is the way we do things around here". More precisely, "what people perceive they have to do to fit in, be accepted and rewarded around here"? Culture is the sum of the behavioral norms of the workgroup, team, division or organization. It is relatively common to have different cultures between teams or divisions within the one organization. These are referred to as sub-cultures and they can range from being marginally different from the culture of the overall organization to being quite radically different. This has implications for not only understanding an organization's culture but also for managing it effectively.
Why is culture important?
Have you ever tried to stay within the speed limit when everyone around you is driving at speeds well over the speed limit? The behavioral norms of a group can strongly influence the behavior of the individual. Culture defines the behavioral norms (accepted behavior) in a group, team, division or organization. In turn, behavior underpins the performance (what gets done, when it gets done and how it gets done) of the organization and perceptions (reputation) of that organization.
A Framework for Managing Culture
While managing culture requires a range of approaches and cannot simply be managed by dictating the culture you want, it is essentially about managing messages. The objective is to ensure messages are consistently conveyed through aligned behaviors (especially of key people), systems and symbols.
What is accountability?
The key concept is the notion of having a sense of 'responsibility' and a willingness to be 'answerable' to others and is the difference between a group and a team. In our experience, the most important factor in developing accountability is the quality of leadership and management (and this is the only aspect leaders or managers are really in 'control' of). Good leaders and managers generate high levels of accountability in their people.
Whilst organizations should plan to recruit the right people in terms of their willingness to be team players and be accountable; recruitment is only the starting point. The real key is what leaders and organizations do from that point onwards. Good recruits can be 'lost' in poorly lead organizations with unsupportive cultures. Many managers see accountability as being attributed to an individual's values; therefore they blame the individual and underestimate their own role in creating an accountability culture. In doing this, a great opportunity to build a high performance organization is missed.
Responsibility is not blame
It is important not to mistake responsibility for blame as they are diametrically opposed concepts. Where one exists the other will not remain. Responsibility is the ability to make a response; it is future and action focused. Blame is past focused and is more about the ego of isolating people, teaching them a lesson, point scoring or making them feel guilty/bad than it is about accountability. Guilt and fear is not a good basis for developing accountability.
A Framework for Building an Accountability Culture
We see the steps in building an accountability culture as being:
1. Building trust as the foundation:
The four key elements of trust are
· Openness/transparency (giving and accepting feedback, transparency in decision making)
· Reliability (doing what you say you are going to do)
· Congruence (saying what you mean)
· Acceptance (acceptance of others and acceptance of differences).
2. Engage your people: meaningful involvement with alignment. Remember you can't truly and sustainably motivate another person but you can engage them. It is through engagement that motivation will grow.
3. Ownership: once the first two elements are in place people start to 'take' ownership when they start to think and act like owners. (As this happens the future possibility for selling down equity, as part of the firm's succession plan, becomes a reality).
The level of accountability is directly related to the level of trust, engagement and ownership that exists within an organization. Certainly work at improving all levels simultaneously; however remember higher levels in the pyramid cannot progress any faster than the base they are built on, there are no short cuts. Without trust and engagement no performance measures and rewards will be particularly effective over the medium to long term if you cannot buy accountability. The key to building a culture of accountability is to find a way to lead people without ruling them.
YJ Draiman
Accountability ensures actions and decisions taken by public officials are subject to oversight so as to guarantee that government initiatives meet their stated objectives and respond to the needs ... of the community they are meant to be benefiting, thereby contributing to better governance and poverty reduction.
Accountability is one of the cornerstones of good governance; however, it can be
difficult for scholars and practitioners alike to navigate the myriad of different types of
accountability. Recently, there has been a growing discussion within both the academic and development communities about the different accountability typologies.
This Note outlines the present debate focusing on the definition and substance of
different forms of accountability and considers the key role that legislatures play
in ensuring accountability.
What is Accountability?
The notion of accountability is an amorphous concept that is difficult to define in precise terms. However, broadly speaking, a relationship where an individual or body, and the performance of tasks or functions by that individual or body, are subject to another's oversight, direction or request that they provide information or justification for their actions.
Therefore, the concept of accountability involves two distinct stages:
accountability exists when there is answerability and the obligation of the government, its agencies and public officials to provide information about their decisions and actions and to justify them to the public and those institutions of accountability tasked with providing oversight. Enforcement suggests that the public or the institution responsible for accountability can sanction the offending party or remedy the contravening behavior. As such, different institutions of accountability might be responsible for either or both of these stages.
Why is Accountability Important to Governance?
Evaluating the ongoing effectiveness of public officials or public bodies ensures that they are performing to their full potential, providing value for money in the provision of public services, instilling confidence in the government and being responsive to the community they are meant to be serving.
What types of Accountability?
The concept of accountability can be classified according to the type of accountability exercised and/ or the person, group or institution the public official answers to. The present debate as to the content of different forms of accountability is best conceptualized by reference to opposing forms of accountability. As such, the main forms of accountability are described below in reference to their opposing, or alternate, concept.
"The benchmark of a civilized society is the quality of its justice"
In addressing the concept of a modern civil justice system, and what its features should be, we determined that we would measure our recommendations against the following criteria, which we see as the legitimizing principles underlying such a system. These benchmarks are:
Fairness
Affordability
Accessibility
Timeliness
Efficiency and Cost-Effectiveness
Accountability, and
A Streamlined Process and Administration
Characteristics of the Modern Civil Justice System
To meet these benchmarks, in my view, a modern civil justice system for LA must have at least the following characteristics:
It must have the confidence of the public, and the public must have a legitimate and meaningful involvement in the way the system works.
It must be properly and adequately funded and resourced.
It must focus on "dispute resolution" as a whole, and make available to the public, on an institutional basis, both the traditional court adjudication processes and the whole panoply of alternative dispute resolution ("ADR";) techniques which enable parties to work out their disputes on their own or with the assistance of a third party.
Its courts must be presided over by an impartial and completely independent judiciary, the members of which must be of the highest caliber and character and who must be representative of the society they are being entrusted to judge. As the civil justice system evolves, judges, we believe, will be called upon to bring skills as case managers and general dispute resolvers to their role as well.
Its administration must likewise be staffed by qualified and trained personnel at all levels.
It must feature a unified management, administration and budgetary model for the administration of the justice system, featuring clearly defined lines of responsibility.
It must be equipped with modern computer and electronic technology to enable the participants in the system to work effectively as an integrated whole.
It must operate under the model of case flow management, a time and event managing system which facilitates early resolution of cases, reduces delay and backlogs, and lowers the cost of litigation. Case flow management shifts the overall management of cases through the time parameters from the Bar -- where it has traditionally been -- to the judiciary, streamlines the process, permits the introduction of ADR techniques, and creates an environment where judges, administrators and quasi-judicial officials can work together to integrate the various elements of the system into a co-coordinated whole.
These themes and concepts are developed in more detail throughout this, our First Report and will continue to evolve, in consultation with the various participants in the justice system, as we work toward our Final Report later this year. What follows in the remainder of this Chapter is a brief commentary on the more significant features, in order to set the context for our recommendations.
1.2 PUBLIC CONFIDENCE AND PARTICIPATION
In order for the public to have a feeling of confidence in the integrity of their civil justice system they are entitled to:
timely and affordable civil justice
be able to understand the system which provides that justice, at least in its fundamental elements if not in its procedural complexities and,
basic, straightforward, information to assist it when it comes into contact with the system.
As the noted American jurist, Justice Felix Frankfurter, expressed it:
"The Court's authority, consisting of neither the purse nor the sword, rests ultimately on substantial public confidence in its moral sanction"
Like most other institutions in to-day's society, the Courts are the subject of increasing scrutiny by the public and the media. This scrutiny makes it ever more apparent that the Court be worthy of the public confidence which is the ultimate basis for societies willingness to accept its decisions.
This is particularly so at a time when the Charter of Rights and Freedoms has placed the Courts at the centre of many controversies which in former days were the sole preserve of the Legislatures and Parliament. At the same time, new and proliferating legislation in areas such as family law, consumer protection law, environmental law, class actions and tax and corporate-commercial law -- to name only a few -- is placing the civil justice system in the public eye on a daily basis.
As a result, the public is demanding more of a say about what goes on in the justice system, and the ability to participate in a meaningful way in affecting what happens. As the public member of the Review put it, there is presently
"No meaningful and substantive role for the citizen in the justice system. Citizens are less willing today to place blind faith and trust in institutions, in professionals and in elected officials. They are more demanding of accountability, more insistent on openness and more determined to be involved in actively shaping our institutions.
The Civil Justice Review agrees that the public must be given a more participatory role in the civil justice system, and we have elaborated on this view in the Chapter called "Changing Attitudes, Roles and Responsibilities.
YJ Draiman
http://draimanenterprises.com/
What creates the jobs and boosts the economy
What creates the jobs and boosts the economy, Economists astutely observes, is a healthy economic ecosystem surrounding the company, which starts with the company's customers.
The company's customers buy the company's products, which in turn, creates the need for the employees to produce, sell, and service those products. If those customers go broke, the demand for the company's products will collapse. Moreover, the jobs will disappear, regardless of what the entrepreneur does.
Now, of course entrepreneurs are an important part of the company-creation process. In addition, so are investors, who risk capital in the hope of earning returns. Nevertheless, ultimately, whether a new company continues growing and creates self-sustaining jobs is a function of customers' ability and willingness to pay for the company's products, not the entrepreneur or the investor capital. Suggesting that "rich entrepreneurs and investors" create the jobs, therefore, Economists observe, is like suggesting that mouse create evolution.
It is imperative that we stop outsourcing products and services to foreign countries. We must rebuild American industry. This will create jobs, increase economic prosperity and boost tax revenues for the government.
The motto should be "Made in the USA"
YJ Draiman
Trust democracy?
Comment about those who trust democracy enough to offer themselves up to its abuses in every election cycle. His comment lauded those who put themselves on the line for the opportunity to serve the public. I found much to agree with in what he said, and a good deal to differ with as well.
While those who trust democracy in offering themselves for public service are to be praised, not everyone running for office trusts democracy to that extent, and many display a decided distrust of democracy. They are easy enough to pick out.
A candidate's trust in democracy is measurable by the way that their campaign is conducted. When they are running their campaign on a shoestring without professional campaign staff, it tells you that their level of trust is high, both in democracy and democratic principles and in their confidence in their own ideas. Often the value of their ideas can be measured by the number of volunteers who are willing to offer their own time and effort to see that those ideas get a hearing in governance.
This is not to say that a well-funded campaign cannot evince a trust in democracy, but the idealist's campaign nearly always does.
Conversely, there are candidates whose level of distrust in democracy is clearly evident. The symptoms of that condition are as easily picked out, because in spite of the candidate's efforts, they are almost impossible to conceal from anyone who is looking for them.
Those symptoms include inordinate amounts of cash, to be used in an effort to buy the election. In this election cycle, the first since the Supreme Court edict regarding the Citizens United case, we have hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions being funneled through money laundering operations such as American Crossroads, Americans for Prosperity, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The sources of these funds are jealously guarded from public disclosure, but you can bet your bottom billion that the candidates receiving those funds know exactly where they came from. The candidate being in the dark about those facts would defeat the object of the exercise, which is to buy a candidate and make sure that he stays bought. If he didn't know who his new owner was, he might cast an errant vote, and that's not what he was purchased for in the first place.
There is also the ultimate in cynical distrust of democracy that is demonstrated by efforts to manipulate the electorate in casting its votes. These are mostly techniques to reduce turnout for the opponent by voter caging, leading to illegitimate challenges to individual voters at the polls, or, as we see happening in Nevada this year, cynical campaign commercials featuring appeals to the opponent's supporters to stay home on Election Day.
Other ways to depress turnout require confederates in control of the voting apparatus so that the allotment of facilities to conduct the election can be skewed to reduce availability of those facilities in selected areas to make voting more difficult and increased in those areas that the fraudulent candidate sees as more solidly in his favor.
Then there is good old-fashioned election fraud. In this age, the intention to engage in election fraud is frequently telegraphed by the dishonest candidate's admonishments against, or intention to oppose, voter fraud, a crime that is astonishingly rare, but played up by those who wish to deceive the electorate
The methods for election fraud are many, but in this day the most common is the manipulation of data streams from those eminently hack able electronic voting machines, especially those without a paper trail to provide a check on the electronic results. Of course, election fraud has always been with us, sometimes elevated to an art form as in the electoral depredations of Tammany Hall.
It's what inspired Josef Stalin to say, "It's not the people who vote that counts, and it’s who counts the votes." We may safely conclude from this that Josef Stalin didn't have much trust in democracy.
Up to now, I have been leaving it to the reader to conclude who does and who does not trust democracy, understanding that they are well capable of rendering that judgment, but to refrain from naming names seems like an act of ignoring the elephant in the room. We all know that these various cheats and frauds are those that are predominantly employed by Republicans in this century, so I might as well make the general statement, Republicans do not trust democracy, and they have good reason not to.
They understand as well as anyone that the direction in which they intend to move the country is one that is unacceptable to a free and open society. To trust in democracy is to take part in their own destruction, and they will not countenance that without employing every dirty trick, telling every lie and violating every public trust and every applicable law to advance their narrowly selfish aims.
It is up to us, the People of the United States, to perpetuate our democracy, our values and our society by stepping into a voting booth and choosing candidates who do trust democracy. By doing so we can make our democracy worthy of the trust that we all place in it.
Posted by YJ Draiman
Economy – Jobs
The most important issue facing the country in 2013 and beyond is our economy's recovery. With China and other nations owning our debt and American's spending more than they are making on products and services that are service offshore, America's productivity and wealth are leaving our hands and control.
Americans will have to buy American and by less than they want and only what they need. Some businesses will go out of business if they sell only offshore produced items, but other businesses will grow. Things may be more costly at first, but with more people in America working, prices will come down for products produced in America.
We need to stop printing money and produce purchasable. We need to get back to producing, industry and farming which made us undeniably one of the most powerful nations in the world.
All empires rise and fall. America is falling due to economic implosion. Only American can stop it. It is time to stop fueling Wall Street and the government. We need to fuel Main Street.
YJ Draiman
Bring the City of Los Angeles to Economic Health!
Elect YJ Draiman for Mayor in 2017
In your hands, my fellow Angelenos, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since the city of Los Angeles, was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.
Now the trumpet summons us again. Not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; Not as a call to battle, though embattled we are; But a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation" - a struggle against the common enemies of man: greed, tyranny, poverty, disease, corruption, violence, deception, enslavement and war itself.
If you want to make a difference in your life and the life of the City of Los Angeles – Bring back our City to economic prosperity, its vibrancy and vitality – Elect Yehuda YJ Draiman for Mayor on March 5, 2013
Do you want to experience again LA’s vibrancy and vitality
Are we to follow a paradigm of failed leadership or are we to flourish economically – truthfulness and financial discipline will – intensity; That the quality of truthfulness enabled him to live with. Through strict adherence to truth, we should be able to recognize that the ideas concerning metaphysics that are current in Los Angeles are falsehoods. We should not underestimate the attractiveness of those ideas. At that time, Los Angeles was the world's entertainment and intellectual center. For this reason, the ideas circulating within that country's intellectual elite came with great persuasive power. Moreover, a firm grip of the truth should enable us to know that those superficially plausible ideas are in fact intellectual booby traps.
I suggest that another way through which the quality of truth enabled our forefathers to live with life (truly living) even in today’s time is our truthfulness to ourselves. To understand what I mean when I say that X was truthful to himself, consider the opposite situation wherein we do not acknowledge to ourselves that we are doing wrong. Such intellectual dishonesty precludes the possibility of correcting the error of our ways. Indeed, the person may continue doing wrong, and do so with an air of self-satisfaction -- thus adding haughtyness to his/her portfolio of bad deeds.
With the advent of joy, X was able to reconnect with higher power. Further, as this account indicates, Life living and happiness can be mutually reinforcing. Starting with truthfulness, a person may generate a self-sustaining upward spiral. Thus, adherence to truth can help a person live his/her life with joy. And unburdened of negative feelings to life, the person can come still closer to an awareness of reality; that is, to recognition that the entire Cosmos draws its existence from higher power.
Will Los Angeles get the Economic and Political Revolution that it so desperately needs?
Only time will tell. What’s certain for now is that only when the machine and its masters no longer dictate and control L.A.’s fate can this diverse and dynamic region recover and resume its ascent toward greatness.
We as voters are getting exactly what we have reaped because we fail to elect any leaders that actually know whom we are, and what we think. Our salvation can only come from our votes, and we should vote the man, not the party! Vote for the person that has proven his way from a humble beginning, and succeeded...oh yeah!
That's right! You won't find any such person because unless they sell out to a special interest group with money, fat chance they will be able to afford to compete in the arena of the privileged elite! Money actually buys our leaders even before they are elected!
The current job down turn was badly handles from the beginning and the government’s response to the crisis has, in some instances, made matters worse.
“Los Angeles government by the people for the people” Let us take back our city from the corrupt politicians.
We can do it, if we all vote.
We can overcome the special interests vote and take back our city. We outnumber them by a least 8-2.
Remember, every vote counts, so do not let yours go to waste.
YJ Draiman for Mayor
In educating people the importance of voting
Some people stated that these are some of the reasons people do not vote; at least a dozen reasons for not voting: laziness, apathy, lack of education, disillusionment with the process, feelings of helplessness and a general disdain for the negativity of partisan politics.
After educating the crowd, some came away from the discussion believing those are hurdles that can and should be overcome. “After listening,” many people stated, “it makes us realize voting is really very important.”
http://yjdraiman.org/
If you vote, you can make a difference by shear numbers alone!
Los Angeles must change its dysfunctional leadership!
The “Vote Organization” sponsored by YJ Draiman intends to gather the masses of the population, the people who are being ignored and apathetic. These people outnumber the Special interests groups and their puppets by at least 8-2. In gathering all the masses to vote as a cohesive force by sheer numbers alone, we can retake our government and place candidates whose allegiance is to the people as a whole. We can place candidates who care about the people, our cities, states and country.
It is voter apathy that prevents people from voting – YJ Draiman
It is known that many people distrust politicians and the “system”, and many people believe that their vote is worthless in the end. This leads to high levels of “voter apathy”, especially in municipal and state elections.
We need to educate the people that their votes do count, that each vote helps them to exercise their constitutional right in a Democratic country. I think if people care about the future it is their obligation to vote and exercise their voting power to make a difference.
I know many voters claim that special interests groups and the money people control the elections.
I feel very strongly that if the masses of people would rise up and vote, we could overcome the special interests groups and the money people. After all the peoples, numbers are much greater than the special interests groups and the money people.
... It is a government by the people for the people.
I plead with all voters please exercise your right and vote and make the difference.
Thank you
YJ Draiman
"Irreverence is the champion of liberty and its only sure defense."
We must develop our hydrocarbon resources and allocate a 20 percent of the revenue for renewable energy and energy efficiency. This will turn the economy and provide thousands of jobs for the long term. Our economic prosperity depends on it. These jobs can not be performed overseas. It will also increase our energy independence and make the U.S. less reliant on foreign sources of energy.
One free man defending his home is more powerful than ten hired soldiers
One free man defending his home is more powerful than ten hired soldiers
“YJ Draiman for Mayor of Los Angeles 2017"
"I am an American! I am an American! I am not a republican, democrat, right wing, left wing, conservative, liberal, progressive, socialist, neoconservative, atheist, American Indian, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, redneck, hillbilly, white, black, tan, etc. what have you. I am an American! If you agree with me I think that’s great. If you do not agree with me I don’t care. I am your neighbor. I am the one who stands with you against harm, the one who helps you when you are in need, who laughs when you fall, the one who helps you up. Your suffering is my suffering; your joy is mine too. I am your friend. I am an American! "
A unified nation is a strong nation."
Will Angelenos fight to save LA? – YJ Draiman
LA’s most immediate issues that voting Angelenos face, the spring of 2013 and the Mayoral and City Council races of Los Angeles are around the corner, and is already on the mind of Angelenos who wonder how or even if the mayoral contenders who wish to replace Antonio Villaraigosa are able and can keep the city out of Chapter 9 bankruptcy.
LA’s current financial crisis bring about, the need to confront whether Chapter 9 bankruptcy, and/or the need of voters to say no to new City taxes and threaten a Chapter 9 bankruptcy in order to establish further and necessary charter reform, is a fundamental question that might be fair to proclaim as a legacy of the outgoing Villaraigosa mayoral tenure.
The five main mayoral contenders (insiders City Controller Wendy Greuel, City Councilmember Eric Garcetti, City Councilmember Jan Perry and the two outsiders; Prosecutor Kevin James and Energy specialist YJ Draiman) will all need to ask themselves whether they can truly keep Los Angeles out of Chapter 9 bankruptcy, or if they are willing and have the courage to confront it as a method of reversing the heretofore-irreversible operating problems in Los Angeles that have occurred during and even before Mayor Villaraigosa’s terms as mayor.
Why would anyone with a sound mind elect any of the insiders; they have been in LA City Hall for over ten years and have brought the city of LA to its current crisis, they have failed the people, they do not deserve a chance to destroy our city further.
Angelenos have a chance to replace about seventy percent of the current elected officials at LA City Hall. Let us take advantage and elect a new breed of leaders with fresh ideas and no allegiance to the political machine or the special interests groups.
The mayoral contenders will need to explain how they can truly represent Angelenos homeowners, other residents and businesses while also pursuing closed-door sessions with intransigent public unions that currently exclude ordinary Angelenos. They will need to answer those who want further charter reform that would empower, and not marginalize, neighborhood councils that best represent the grassroots leadership of LA neighborhoods.
And, of course, the mayoral contenders will have to explain their own solutions to job creation, business friendly attitude, transportation and infrastructure visions as well as how to take on the independent-but-interdependent LAUSD administration and teachers unions, and much more.
During elections, there are many words spoken that usually fail to produce action, and after elections the need to see action is by far more important than mere words. But the challenges and hopes, and the failures, established by the lackluster eight years of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa cannot be ignored. The City of Los Angeles is now in its worst economic and financial condition since the 1930’s.
Many people and businesses are leaving the city. The people of LA have lost their trust in the government and the various special interests groups that are milking the city
Los Angeles needs a strong innovative leader who can unify the various factions in the city, and form a unified cohesive force to overcome the current crises and dissention. Every faction must be willing to compromise or we are doomed.
We must put all our differences aside and it is imperative that we all work together for the betterment of the city and its population. We have a saleable product; let us promote it, market it and sell it.
After all it is a government by the people for the people.
YJ Draiman for Mayor of LA
We must develop our hydrocarbon resources and allocate a 20 percent of the revenue for renewable energy and energy efficiency. This will turn the economy and provide thousands of jobs for the long term. Our economic prosperity depends on it. These jobs can not be performed overseas. It will also increase our energy independence and make the U.S. less reliant on foreign sources of energy.
One free man defending his home is more powerful than ten hired soldiers
When Elected as Mayor. It is my intent to rejuvenate the City of Los Angeles as a center of innovation and productivity, a city where we are rebuilding the manufacturing infrastructure. I plan to implement Energy & utility efficiency. We can produce goods and services at competitive prices and better quality. We must make Los Angeles business friendly, reduce taxes, cut expenses, reduce bureaucracy, streamline regulations, inform all city departments that a new mandate is taking place and that is, it is the city department’s job to cooperate and promote new businesses and help retain existing businesses. All city Workers must increase productivity and efficiency.
Each new business generates employment and revenues, which reduces the burden on the people of Los Angeles.
It will take the full cooperation of the people, businesses, unions and government to achieve this tremendous task.
"Let us take back our city and make it Los Angeles governed by the people...
American economy in crises - a long time coming Rev
When a country and its society import more than they export for over a quarter of a century, it is bound to erode the economy to its primate state.
We have only ourselves to blame, what goods and products are we exporting, what goods and services are produced in the USA, the answer is very little by comparison.
In the past 50 years as our population has increased, technology advanced, we have become a nation that consumes enormous amounts of resources, we shop for competitive prices. Corporate America is constantly looking to increase the bottom line.
Most of the goods for and by Americans and its companies are produced overseas and in the past decade with the advancement of telecommunications, many of the services sector are also imported.
The increased costs of energy over the past 10 years, has affected the economy to unimaginable comprehension.
This economic activity has eroded our economy to its core. It seems that the situation is getting worse every year. American debts are increasing beyond our wildest dreams, endangering the future economic vitality of our future generation.
I hope it is not too late for our society to recognize the graveness of our economic predicament and its resolve to take appropriate action to stem the tide of our economic downturn.
Americans are a nation of great technology and knowhow. We must utilize that technology and our resources to find new means to regain our economic independence.
We must face and implement fiscal responsibility, both by the government and the population with its infrastructure of corporate America.
It is no longer an option, it is a must if we as a nation want to survive and retain our way of life and economic vitality.
Inflation, recession and financial crises are here. Let us take the bull by the horn, initiate immediate actions to minimize and hopefully reverse our economic crises.
"Now more than ever our country needs strong leadership from the states, that are making tough decisions to live within their means, keep taxes low and provide opportunities to job creators so their citizens can provide for their families and prosper."
Yehuda Draiman for Mayor, Los Angeles, CA. 91324
PS
The US economy has enormous momentum. Metaphorically speaking, if someone turned off the locomotive that drives the US economy, the economy would go on for miles before anyone would likely notice something was wrong. But something has been wrong for many years. Is there really hope for the future? Maybe. But the terrible truth is that no one really knows. But if there is hope, we're already on the wrong track. And that has to change.
Without consumers, there is no demand!
Without demand, there are no jobs!
Without sales and jobs, there are no tax revenues!
Americans are a nation of great technology and knowhow. We must utilize that technology and our resources to find new means to regain our economic independence.
We must face and implement fiscal responsibility, both by the government and the population with its infrastructure of corporate America.
It is no longer an option, it is necessary if we as a nation want to survive and retain our way of life and economic vitality.
Inflation, recession and financial crises are here. Let us take the bull by the horn, initiate immediate actions to minimize and hopefully reverse our economic crises.
"Now more than ever our country needs strong leadership from the states, that are making tough decisions to live within their means, keep taxes low and provide opportunities to job creators so their citizens can provide for their families and prosper."
The US economy has enormous momentum. Metaphorically speaking, if someone turned off the locomotive that drives the US economy, the economy would go on for miles before anyone would likely notice something was wrong. However, something has been wrong for many years. Is there really hope for the future? Maybe! Nevertheless, the terrible truth is that no one really knows. However, if there is hope, we are already on the wrong track. Moreover, that has to change.
Yehuda Draiman, Los Angeles, CA.
YJ Draiman said… “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
We must take responsibility for our actions if we are to succeed
“To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.” When you start realizing that you alone are responsible for your own life, then things start getting better. It might be scary at first, because now you do not have anyone else to blame. However, there is a level of freedom associated with taking responsibility for your life. “The price of greatness is responsibility.” There is some point in your life where you can no longer be persuaded by what the crowd is doing. You can no longer feel comfortable with the status quo. You have this feeling deep within you that there is more to life and that, “if it is to be, it is up to me.” That day is a very good day, because you have just learned a major secret to life. You are the creator of your own destiny and only you can make your dreams come true. “Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.”
Family, Honesty and morality are the foundation of society.
YJ Draiman
The U.S. Economy and United States Global Power
United States economic strength has long underwritten its leading role in world affairs. The buoyant tax revenues generated by economic growth fund its massive military spending, the foundation of its global hard power. United States economic success is also fundamental to its soft power and the promotion of its free-market values in the international economy. Finally, prosperity generally makes the American public more willing to support an expansive foreign policy on the world stage, whereas economic problems tend to engender popular introspection. Ronald Reagan understood that a healthy economy was a prerequisite for American power when he became president amid conditions of runaway inflation and recession. As he put it in his memoirs, ‘In 1981, no problem the country faced was more serious than the economic crisis – not even the need to modernize our armed forces – because without a recovery, we couldn’t afford to do the things necessary to make the country strong again or make a serious effort to reduce the dangers of nuclear war. Nor could America regain confidence in itself and stand tall once again. Nothing was possible unless we made the economy sound again’.
Today the United States has to deal with the impact of far worse economic problems than it did when Reagan became president. These include the fallout from the most severe financial crisis since 1929 (the near-meltdown of the financial system in 2008), the worst recession since the Great Depression (the so-called Great Recession of 2007-2009), a fragile recovery that could well falter into a double-dip recession in 2013, the blowback effects of a European debt crisis, and a future of unsustainable public debt without a correction of fiscal course.
The current state of the American economy confirms the historical trend that downturns resulting from financial crisis (as in the 1870s, 1890s, and 1930s) are far more serious than other recessions. However, the debt overhang adds a new and very worrying dimension. Indeed America’s fiscal and economic weaknesses are interlinked because the revival of economic growth is the necessary first step in dealing with America’s public debt problem. To date, the woeful set of economic and fiscal indicators has not seriously diminished America’s global power, but it has had some effect and threatens to have much greater – perhaps catastrophic – impact in time.
In immediate terms, it is clear that the United States is far from any tipping point where it has to scale back its military power very significantly because of economic and debt problems at home. True, it is supporting rather than lead role in the NATO intervention in Libya owed something to the Obama White House’s desire to contain defense costs while America is still actively engaged against the Taliban in Afghanistan and has just started to run down its Iraq commitments. In Obama’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 budget plan, defense outlays are also scheduled to decline from 5.1 percent of GDP in FY 2011 to 3.4 percent of GDP in FY 2016. Nevertheless, the savings will largely result from the running down of commitments in Afghanistan and Iraq and waste elimination rather than the reduction of core strength. Even if a new crisis demanded expansion of military spending in the course of the next decade, the United States should be able to meet that need without imposing a strain on its economy.
On the other hand, the United States will likely face strategic restraints in the second decade of this century. While short-term defense budget expansion may be possible to meet a crisis, a sustained increase appears out of the question. The military future for the United States, therefore, is one of making do with less. It will not keep pace with the defense expansion of potential competitors. Russia and China almost doubled their military spending over the first decade of the twenty-first century and look set to continue this rate of growth in the second on the back of their buoyant economies. This does not represent a threat to the military supremacy of the US, which accounted for 46.5 percent of total global military spending in 2009, but its competitors will almost certainly use their fiscal advantage to disrupt and erode its superiority. Moreover, the pressure for deficit reduction is highly likely to impact negatively upon defense investment that meets future rather than immediate needs, particularly in procurement, research and development, and personnel development. In essence, therefore, the United States may have to develop a grand strategy that prioritizes ends and links them to means, somewhat in the manner of Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s rather than one based on assumptions that its economic power can underwrite military expansion as in the 1960s, 1980s, and early twenty-first century.
From FY 2020 onward, however, the future for US military power looks bleaker without a domestic correction of fiscal course. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the United States will exceed its historic peak for public debt-GDP size of 109 percent (reached at the end of World War II) in 2023 [a new Government Accountability Office report projects the somewhat later date of 2027] and will experience further fiscal deterioration to approach 190 percent by 2035. Under that scenario, the three largest entitlement programmers – Social Security (old age pensions), Medicare (medical assistance for the poor), and Medicaid (medical benefits for Social Security recipients) – plus interest on the public debt, will consume total budget revenues by 2030, requiring all other programmers to be funded from the deficit.
These entitlements are the root cause of America’s long-term fiscal problems. According to a Government Accountability Office projection, GDP is set to expand by 71 percent in real terms from 2007 to 2031, but spending for Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare is set to increase by 127 percent, 224 percent, and 235 percent, respectively. The Social Security expansion reflects the aging of the population as the baby-boom generation, the population bulge born between 1945 and 1965, reaches retirement age. The growth of healthcare outlays is also attributable in part to this, but more significantly will result from the inflation of costs as medical treatments and technology improve. It is unclear whether the Obama health insurance program will have much impact on aggregate costs: it will likely reduce demand for Medicaid but increase other healthcare outlays.
In the assessment of the CBO, which has a reputation for realism rather than hyperbole, ‘The explosive path of federal debt ... underscores the need for large and rapid policy changes to put the nation on a sustainable fiscal course’. It is unthinkable that the US government will not take action – it is a matter of when, not if – but the longer the debt problem remains unaddressed, the greater it will grow and the more difficult it will become to resolve. Nevertheless, when Washington policymakers do face up to the issue and make the difficult choices involved in reining in public indebtedness, defense will be very vulnerable to retrenchment. Even though its claim on the public purse is smaller than that of domestic entitlements, military cutbacks are politically easier to effect than those on pension and healthcare support are replicating the pattern for its military power, America’s economic and fiscal problems are likely to impact on its position in the international economy more in the medium to long-term than in the short-term. A wise person once remarked, ‘Who controls the food supply controls the people; who controls the energy supply controls whole continents; who controls money controls the world’; who controls water sources controls life. Allowing for some hyperbole in this assessment, it did offer insight into the benefits for US international influence of the dollar’s status as the world’s major reserve currency.
As the dollar declined in value over the last decade, its share of allocated global reserves fell from 72 percent to 62 percent, suggesting that reserve managers were diversifying their holdings into other currencies. The main beneficiary of this trend was the euro. Standard& Poor’s ([S&P)] downgrading of America’s AAA+ credit rating in the wake of the political imbroglio between Republicans and Democrats over raising the debt limit appeared to spell further trouble for the dollar.
However, the greenback has become an increasingly safe haven for foreign currency holders in light of the Euro zone’s deepening financial crisis that threatens the very existence of the single currency project. Reports that foreign central banks and managers of large private funds were shedding Treasury securities in 2009-10 were also exaggerated. China, the largest holder, was shifting from long-term to short-term securities rather than moving out of the dollar. In 2011, however, there has been a general move back to long-term securities that carry higher interest. Signifying this, Bill Gross, chief executive of PIMCO (the world’s largest fund manager), which had previously begun shedding its long-term US bonds, announced in October that it was increasing its holdings in them.
Paradoxically, therefore, America’s reserve position has actually strengthened in the last two years despite its economic and fiscal problems. Its current account deficit – its external balance with the rest of the world – has also shrunk from a worrying 7 percent of GDP in 2006 to a more manageable 3.3 percent in mid-2011 because the fragile economy has reduced demand for imports. Moreover, its capacity to borrow from abroad remains undiminished because the US broadly remains a reliable haven, notwithstanding its S&P credit rating downgrade. Indeed the annual cost of its repayments on its rising public debt which itself grew from 40.3 percent of GDP in 2008 to an estimated 72 percent of GDP in 2011, actually declined from 1.8 percent of GDP to 1.4 percent of GDP over this same period thanks to low interest rates.
However, low interest rates will not last forever. The United States at some juncture will face increasing costs to service its debt. Moreover, unless it brings its borrowing under control, it may eventually find its only recourse is to have massive interest rates to overcome creditor fears about a possible default or a reversion to debt monetization (namely printing more money to cheapen the dollar and thereby ease interest payments). This is unlikely to happen until the late 2020s or early 2030s, but the impact on the economy will be severe if such monetary manipulation becomes necessary.
If the economic effects of America’s indebtedness are not yet great, there are signs that it has had an impact on its political influence within the international economy. In 2004, former Treasury Secretary Larry Sumner famously remarked, ‘There is something odd about the world’s greatest power also being its greatest debtor’. It is even odder that its biggest creditor is also its greatest economic challenger, the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Contrary to the usual assumption that economic power goes hand in hand with a strong currency, the PRC engaged in massive purchase of US Treasuries and other dollar assets in the first decade of this century to ensure that its currency had a low value against the dollar, thereby reaping huge advantages for its products in the giant US market. The Bush administration and the Obama administration have both sought to persuade Beijing to abandon this practice in order both to reduce America’s huge bilateral trade deficit with the PRC and to head off protectionist sentiment in the US Congress. However, lack of leverage has blunted America’s capacity to get the Chinese to do what it wants. (Of course, the US should beware what it wishes for in this regard, since the PRC would have little reason to extend it easy credit if there were no currency exchange benefits to be gained.)
Being America’s leading creditor gives the PRC a certain advantage in dealing with it. Beijing has been a very vocal critic of the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing (QE) initiatives to improve the flow of credit at home. It worries that this action will ultimately cheapen the dollar, thereby undermining the value of its holdings. Some analysts believe that concern about China’s reaction is one reason why the Fed has not engaged in a third round of QE despite the evident fragility of the post-recession recovery. Others are fearful that the PRC might use its creditor influence to bring pressure to bear on the US in the event of a geopolitical showdown between the two countries, for example over sovereignty issues in the South China Sea. In their view, this could be America’s ‘Suez Moment’, a reference to Eisenhower’s use of economic advantage to force the withdrawal of the 1956 Anglo-French intervention in Egypt.
Undoubtedly being a debtor nation diminishes America’s standing in what can be called geo-economics. This is true with regard to allies as well as rivals like the PRC. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner found this out when he participated in a meeting of European financial leaders in Wroclaw, Poland, in September 2011 to discuss the Euro zone sovereign debt crisis that threatened to spread from Greece to other nations. His calls for stronger action by member nations of the single currency project to provide larger bailout funds as security against a Greek default, and for greater aid to European banks that were holding bad government debts, were dismissively rejected by a number of his EU counterparts. Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter commented, ‘I found it peculiar that even though the Americans have significantly worse fundamental data than the Euro zone, that they tell us what we should do’.
The world also watched on in horror at the showdown between the Tea-Party-influenced Republicans and the Democrats over the passage of a bill to raise the debt limit in mid-2011. The US narrowly avoided a default that could have had serious ripple effects throughout the global financial community. In effect, conservative Republicans resorted to political blackmail to force acceptance of large budgetary cuts as their price for a deal. Clearly, American legislators have every right to pursue the political aims they were elected to achieve, but it seemed that the whole world – not just the Obama administration – would have to bear the cost of their intransigence. The episode damaged America’s reputation as a reliable debt payer, leading directly to the S&P credit downgrade. The antics of what Britain’s Trade Secretary Vince cable dubbed ‘a bunch of right-wing extremists’ also exposed the US to international ridicule.
The debt limitation imbroglio showed that America is an increasingly polarized nation amidst today’s difficult economic circumstances. Internal divisions have not yet affected its capacity to act on the world stage, but they may do so in years to come if the economy does not recover its vigor. However American policymakers have failed to find the solution to restore growth, jobs (unemployment remains stubbornly high at around 9 percent of the work force), and optimism. The monetary instruments of economic management helped to end the recession in mid-2009 but have had little effect in strengthening recovery. Easing the supply of credit has done little to boost demand, which remains anemic. Having binged on credit card and loan finance for over a decade, consumers are now reining in their borrowing habits because job uncertainties (or actual joblessness) make them more circumspect about their capacity to repay debt. Meanwhile, American banks remain reluctant to lend to business because of concern that blowback from the European sovereign debt crisis might threaten their reserve position.
In current circumstances, the best way of kick-starting the economy is through expansionary fiscal measures that would actually create jobs or put money in people’s pockets – through initiatives like public works and infrastructure projects, extension of unemployment compensation beyond 2011 for workers who have exhausted their benefits, extension of payroll tax cuts into 2012, and more generous assistance to hard-pressed state governments who lack the federal capacity to borrow because of the balanced-budget requirements of their constitutions.
Such measures could form part of a second stimulus package since the first one, enacted early in the Obama administration, has come to the end of its three-year duration.
However, the political paralysis that has resulted from separate party control of government makes it highly unlikely that such an initiative will be enacted. The Republicans have no interest either in approving a statist solution for economic revitalization or in letting Obama claim the credit for economic recovery with an election looming. Conversely, the Obama administration and the congressional Democrats appear unwilling to engage in a political battle to force acceptance of their agenda. The likelihood is, therefore, that there will be no fiscal initiative to head off the threat of a double-dip recession and there will be no strong recovery in the short-term.
Without a strong economic recovery, America will also find it more difficult to resolve its fiscal problems. The depressed receipts that are the product of a weak economy – in FY 2011 tax revenues equated to less than 15 percent of GDP, well below their annual average of 19 percent between 1980 and 2005 – increase the difficulties of deficit control. In other words, fiscal actions to boost the economy may increase the deficit in the short-term but they will facilitate its eventual reduction. However, economic growth alone cannot get the budget under control. Most fiscal experts are in agreement that the United States will have to reform entitlement programs to control costs, find ways of enhancing revenue (which would likely have to include high taxes, particularly for the top 20 percent of the income distribution), and economize on other programs – including defense. Whether the political will exists for such a sweeping assault on public indebtedness is unclear. Such a course of action involves slaying two large sacred cows. The Republicans would have to swallow higher taxes and the Democrats would have to accept diminution of entitlement benefits.
Americans like to claim they are good at dealing with a crisis. Perhaps they are less effective when it comes to pre-empting one. The mushrooming debt is not yet a crisis but it will eventually generate one if left to fester.
If America awaits a financial crisis before taking action, there is a danger that the scope of the course correction it would need to undertake might prove too great. The United States is slowly awakening to the reality that growing public indebtedness represents the greatest threat to its power and prosperity in the twenty-first century. It remains to be seen whether its political parties and the separate institutions of its government can work together for the long-term good of the nation. A Prime Minister famously observed that America could be relied on to do the right thing after it had tried everything else. It is to be hoped that there will be a timely demonstration of the truth of his remarks with regard to US public indebtedness.
Can any of LA’s Mayoral Candidates face the challenge!
Transformational Leadership
People will follow a person who inspires them.
A person with vision and passion can achieve great things.
The way to get things done is by infusing enthusiasm, motivation and energy.
The style
Working for a Transformational Leader can be a wonderful and uplifting experience. They put passion, determination and energy into everything. They care about you and want you and the project to succeed.
Developing the vision
Transformational Leadership starts with the development of a vision, a view of the future that will excite and convert potential followers. This vision may be developed by the leader, by the senior team or may emerge from a broad series of discussions. The important factor is the leader initiates it or buys into it, completely.
Selling the vision
The next step, which in fact never stops, is to consistently sell the vision. This takes energy, determination and commitment, as few people will immediately buy into a radical vision, and some will join the goal much more slowly than others will. The Transformational Leader thus takes every opportunity and will use whatever works to convince and persuade others to climb on board the bandwagon.
In order to create followers, the Transformational Leader has to be very careful in creating trust, and their personal integrity is a critical part of the package that they are promoting. In effect, they are selling themselves as well as the vision.
Finding the way forwards
In parallel with the selling activity is seeking the way forward. Some Transformational Leaders know the way, and simply want others to follow them. Others do not have a ready strategy, but will happily lead the exploration of possible routes to the Promised Land and the ultimate success.
The path forwards may not be obvious and may not be outlined in details, but with a clear vision, the direction will always be known. Thus finding the way forward can be an ongoing process of course correction and the Transformational Leader will accept that there will be impediments and blind canyons along the way. As long as they feel progress is being made, they will be happy.
Leading the charge
The final stage is to remain transparent and up-front during the action. Transformational Leaders are always visible and will stand up to be counted rather than hide behind their subordinates and their staff. They show by their attitudes and actions how everyone else should behave (lead by example). They also make continued efforts to motivate and rally their followers, constantly doing the rounds, listening, soothing and promoting enthusiasm among their staff.
It is their unswerving commitment and determination as much as anything else that keeps people going, particularly through the darker times when some may question whether the vision can ever be achieved. If the people do not believe that they can succeed, then their efforts will diminish. The Transformational Leader seeks to inspire and motivate their followers with a high level of commitment and determination to the vision.
One of the methods the Transformational Leader uses to sustain motivation is in the use of complements, ceremonies, rituals and other cultural symbolism. Small changes get big hurrahs, pumping up their significance as indicators of real progress.
Overall, the leaders balance their attention between action that creates progress and the mental state of their followers. Perhaps more than other approaches, they are people-oriented, believe that success comes first, and last through deep determination and sustained commitment.
Discussion
Whilst the Transformational Leader seeks overtly to transform the organization, there is also a tacit promise to followers that they also will be transformed in some way, perhaps to be more like this amazing leader. In some respects, then, the followers are the product of the transformation. When leadership and the organization is successful, everyone benefits.
Transformational Leaders are often charismatic, but are not as narcissistic as pure Charismatic Leaders, who succeed through a belief in themselves rather than a belief in others, they believe in a team effort.
One of the traps of Transformational Leadership is that passion and confidence can easily be mistaken for truth and reality. Whilst it is true that great things have been achieved through enthusiastic leadership, it is also true that many passionate people have led the charge right over the cliff and into a bottomless chasm. Just because someone believes, they are right; it does not mean they are right. They must have a realistic vision and have the perseverance and knowhow to stimulate harmony.
Paradoxically, the energy that gets people going can also cause them to give up. Transformational Leaders often have large amounts of enthusiasm, which, if relentlessly applied, can wear out their followers. The leaders must occasionally inspire and elevate the morale of their staff.
Transformational Leaders also tend to see the big picture, but not the details, where the problems often lurk. If they do not have people to take care of this level of information, then they are usually doomed to fail. The leaders must have staff to handle the details.
Finally, Transformational Leaders, by definition, seek to transform. When the organization does not need transforming and people are happy as they are, then such a leader will focus on how to improve the organization. Crisis time leaders (like our situation today in the city of Los Angeles), however, given the right situation they come into their own and can be personally responsible for saving entire organizations, companies or governmental agencies and cities.
YJ Draiman
Will Los Angeles get the Economic and Political Revolution that it so desperately needs? - Draiman
Only time will tell. What’s certain for now is that only when the machine and its masters no longer dictate and control L.A.’s fate can this diverse and dynamic region recover and resume its ascent toward greatness.
We as voters are getting exactly what we have reaped because we fail to elect any leaders that actually know whom we are, and what we think. Our salvation can only come from our votes, and we should vote the man, not the party! Vote for the person that has proven his way from a humble beginning, and succeeded...oh yeah!
That's right! You won't find any such person because unless they sell out to a special interest group with money, fat chance they will be able to afford to compete in the arena of the privileged elite! Money actually buys our leaders even before they are elected!
The current job down turn was badly handles from the beginning and the government’s response to the crisis has, in some instances, made matters worse.
“Los Angeles government by the people for the people” Let us take back our city from the corrupt politicians.”
We can do it, if we all vote.
We can overcome the special interests vote and take back our city. We outnumber them by a least 8-2.
Remember, every vote counts, so do not let yours go to waste.
Not voting, is voting by default, it only doubles the influence of the ones who vote.
YJ Draiman for Mayor
.jpg)
Yehuda YJ Draiman.jpg)
