SAVE Award 2011 Ideas

My idea is to have one security clearance, or background check to cover all, or at least most agencies. For example right now a person can already have a Top-Secret clearance with the Department of Defense, and they would have to start a background investigation all over again if they were to apply with another agency, even if it’s only for a Secret clearance. They would have to fill out the same SF-86, the same eQip... more »

As we all know, at the end of the FY each agency scrambles to spend what is left in their budgets. Most of the spending is careless and wasteful. The primary reason for this is because the departements know that if they do not exhaust their budget, they will not get those funds back in their next budget.

President Obama should recognize this wasteful spending and offer enticing incentives for agencies that do not... more »

Reuse existing buildings when possible. Existing building use is usually more cost effective and is more conserving of resources. It is wasteful to tear down buildings that can be used productively.

Make time and attendance paperless. In the FWS and many other agencies we use Quicktime to process time and attendance. However, we are still submitting hard copies of our timesheets and leave and compensatory time requests to supervisors and timekeepers. It would be nice if we submitted everything electronically, Quicktime has the capability of doing everything. In our office alone it would save a huge burden of... more »

The end of the year use-it-or-lose it spending policy encourages wasteful spending while penalizing frugality.

We buy computers from Dell. Each computer comes with a license from Microsoft. (Sticker with license key) We then buy an Enterprise license to install Windows (any version) on that computer. Dell sells computers without Windows. We can buy our computers without Microsoft licenses, and then install our Enterprise software. (Volume Licensing)

We never use the preinstalled version, and we never use the license key we pay... more »

If the Presdient pledged to veto every unbalanced budget, and followed through with this threat for two terms...
or Congress could simply pass a balanced budget bill, maybe for only ten years just to see how it works. However, it is not in any individual legislator's interest to balance the budget. This is the classic "tragedy of the commons" secnario where we all see that conservation is necessary, but each person... more »

Statistics show that many countries exceed the USA when it come to public education. Furthermore, statistics show that since the creation of the Department of Education, education scores in the USA have gone down. It is time to decentralize our public education and stop wasteful spending.

It is simple, to reduce our dependence on overseas oil we have got to drill more ourselves!! Yes alternative sources of fuel would be awesome, but in the meantime, DRILL!!

I have watched wasteful spending for the past 11 years. I currently work at a VA hospital and it is no different than the other places I have worked when it deals with the end of the fiscal year "rush". Say a VA hospital, just throwing a number out there to get a point across, has $100,000 left and the fiscal year is coming to an end. I have witnessed wasteful spending on desks, chairs, filing cabnets, computers and... more »

When the Obamacare package came up and I heard it was 2500 pages long, it made me wonder how long a bill can really be. So I started reading some of it, and quite frankly I was rather upset. Many many portions of the bill had nothing to do with healthcare, but rather it gave money to states for other things. So, really the US government needs to stop bassing bills with all those extras, and also needs to amend bills... more »

All OHA needs to switch to the BAH system. This would drive the OCONUS housing market to be more competitive, with massive benefits to the Air Force, many benefits to the service members, and even, to a lesser degree, some benefits to the local community. Members have absolutely no incentive for saving the Government money under the OHA system.

Short term estimated savings in Guam alone: $45,000,000+ per year

Long term... more »

There is a huge list on the left side of this page with many agencies or departments that have NO ideas submitted under this SAVE program. Too much redundancy within the federal government. Time to eliminate agencies and departments that do (or don't do) the same thing that another agency or department.

All SaveAward ideas should be forwarded to Congress for review of potential savings.

There is a huge market right now for Federal Contractors, and new companies spring up by the day to fill these federal positions. In most if not all cases these contractors are working for a third to half of what the Government is actually paying these companies for the position.

Because of this, both the individuals and the Federal Government loose money, meanwhile these contract companies are getting rich. I believe... more »