SAVE Award 2011 Ideas

I don't know that much about audit agencies, but if we had an overarching audit agency that was required to audit government spending and produce a report to for the people to review that provided Laymen's terms on government spending, then perhaps the Government wouldn't be so quick to add all these additional line items to bills. I am not an expert but reading all these add-ons is nearly impossible and I really get... more »

I work in Medical Logistics (supply) at Spangdahlem AB in Germany. I see massive amounts of waste every day.

Taxpayer funds are allowed to purchase things like customized stethoscopes, fancy gel pens, etc. We don't need these items to function. I have a nice pen... that I bought with my own money. If commands were made to make sure units were purchasing the simplest day to day items that best get the job done DoD wide,... more »

Something that I have noticed in my 2 yrs of civil service is that the government spends so much money on office supplies. For example ordering document protectors @ $25/for a box of 50 is ridiculous when you can get them from places like Office Depot @ $10/for a box of 50. That highlighter that you are using cost the government about $8/9 for a box of 6, when it could have been purchased for $3/$4 for a box of 6 at Office... more »

Being in the military, I have seen the way the fiscal year spending policies currently in place have affected missions, causing us to be unable to purchase items that we need in a timely manner. Yet when it comes to the end of the fiscal year, we rush out to spend money on new flat screen TV's among other things just to insure our budget for next year isnt cut.

From what I have read, MANY other departments have this... more »

Many years ago the government required that most, if not all, of its capital assets to have a usage life of at least 20 years. It was widely established in all branches of the armed forces. We spend far too much money buying the latest and greatest when much of what we already have will work perfectly fine and for quite some time. On that note, the Department of Defense needs to follow suit and reinvest in that lost... more »

Maybe by using a SAVE like process, Congress and the President can come to terms on a budget and work out the details of a debt ceiling negotiation in a timely manner. After all, there is advantage in not allowing anyone to have a dislike button. It forces dialog by making one write their own thoughts here and maybe start meaningful dialog. If you don't like it don't push the "like" button. But it gives you a space... more »

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 »

Close all offices except essential personnel the day after Thanksgiving. Many people use this day and its a waste to operate with lights, energy, guards, etc... for a few people.

Fear that not using our full allocated budget dollars will mean a decrease in funds the next fiscal year; there is a push for unnecessary or non critical spending days before deadline. On the contrary, there should be incentives to return unused portions.

Hire accountants to look at our government spending that are independent from the political parties to make suggestions to change the budget.

 

Basically, how would you run a business to break even? Or with a little surplus to take care if something happens?

With roughly two million federal civilian employees, of which 15% (~300,000+) work in the Washington DC Metro area, demand put on the daily infrastructure (I-66, I-95, etc) is substantial. Currently, most personnel would work a normal 40 hour work week (5 days x 8 hours). If an AWS (Alternate Work Schedule) was put in place, where each employee would work eight, 9 hour days and one, 8 hour day per pay period, this would... more »

The federal government spends an exorbitant amount of funds every year on travel and TDY. Most of the funds spent on TDY missions could be used to offset other costs for more pressing issues. There are reasons that many directors and leaders need to travel in order to satisfy mission requirements, but a majority of TDY missions for many others were/are unnecessary. Hundreds of millions of dollars in federal monies can... more »

Right now the biggest thing that comes to my mind is Nancy Pelosi and the multi million dollar jet she had the government pay to get her so she could fly nonstop from her home state to DC, with her, her crew, and 200 reporters. Seriously, why is the government paying to transport reporters? Everytime her aircraft flys in any direction it costs the taxpayers 60,000 dollars. Why not do away with all the private aircraft,... more »

It is not the governments responcibility to pay for children when people are having them when they are in a situation where they can not afford them in the first place. Have those who are on welfare sign a contract stating they will not have anymore children then what they have. And if they have kids while on welfare they lose the check they are getting and can not get welfare again.

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 »