SAVE Award 2011 Ideas

My supervisor told me that if an employee is productive for 6 hours out of the day, that's pretty good. This is no surprise.
Why then do we need to spend 8 hours here when it's common knowledge that most people are only productive for 6 hours per day? I can be productive for 8-10 hours a day SHORT term, but long term I only have 6 hours of QUALITY work in me per day.
NASA makes it difficult for people to switch to hourly,... more »

Inmates are allowed to do their own laundry. We provide laundry machines so inmate can wash their clothes. The laundry machines are home models and not industrial. They are running all day and night, they break down and are replace a lot. They use body wash that we give them for free instead of laundry soap. They wash their clothes several time a day and waste water and electricity. Plus Inmate hid contraband in the... more »

The Air Mobility Division (AMD) which is the part of the Air Operations Center plans airlift missions for aircraft in the CENTCOM AOR. They continually deploy over 100 people to perform this task, but 100% of the job is online & over the phone with zero physical contact with the users. Many expenses ensue due to nature of this base (flying troops over and back, food, lodging, body armor, etc), yet there is no need for... more »

Following the money, I never thought it was a "waste" to spend money on DOD, etc. because you pay people, they buy stuff in the US (food, movie tickets, games) so you really don't lose those dollars. When you hire Russians to move our cargo, that money goes to them and is GONE. What do we get out of that except a reduction in the use of our own fleet? That's not a real cost, since if our own jets get worn out faster... more »

I suggest, in order to create an immediate savings, that we cancel any government office furniture orders (which would not breach a contract) and halt any future orders.
As a member of the armed forces, I can personally attest to the necessity of having to 'scrounge' or reutilize older furniture. This frequently results in a somewhat mismatched, yet fully functional office. I can also attest to having seen good office... more »

There are over 8 million persons receiving SSI with over $4.3 billion spent in just the month of June 2011. This seems excessive. I don't mind helping support someone that is doing their upmost to help themselves. It seems perhaps too many people qualify to receive SSI benefits. I suggest relooking at the qualifications including limiting disabilities to a smaller number of situations (perhaps not including self perpetuated... more »

Spend money towards defense instead of no value added spending. Billions are being spent across DoD on unnecessary landscaping, flat screen TV’s, construction projects, etc… Create a culture were saving money is a priority instead of spending. First, visit several installations identifying wasteful spending habits (i.e. landscaping, large flat screen televisions, not needed computers, not needed construction). Many... more »

Increase Virtual Training instead of conference/travel training, this year I have seen people selected for conferences that cost the government thousands of dollars in which the conference materials could have been released via online training. We really need to begin to tighten this area up. I suggest a guideline / mold (if you will) that allows travel for training. I suggest that staff and leadership investigate... 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.

Automatic flush toilets are a horrible waste of water because many of them flush several times per user (especially when the user has to deal with nylons and the sensor keeps detecting movement within the stall.) Some even flush when someone just passes by the stall.

Automatic Sinks can also be a huge waste of water (and electricity) since the user cannot turn the water off immediately when they are finished.

Paper... more »

I feel there is a lot of money wasted on a Port of Entry (POE) on the Northern Border. For instance in the State of North Dakota there is a POE almost every thirty minutes of driving. A small POE that has less than ten employees and is not open 24 hrs a day is a waste of money, resources, and a security threat. I say that because in a large POE the CBP officers have tools and man power not available in a smaller POE.... more »

Much of the correspondence sent by Social Security Administration (SSA) to its customers contains a request stating "Address Service Requested." As a result, the USPS post office generates address update forms that note the old address and the new address. They then generate an invoice and bill SSA for this service. However, this feature is NOT useful because SSA is not able to update an address without the social... more »

It is ridiculous that VA employees can get up to 5% of their pay for an annual performance award! This especially applies to people at the higher end who earn over $100,000. These people do NOT need another $5,000 as a bonus. I guarantee you that no one is going to leave their federal job if they do not get this bonus.

This size bonus is a huge waste of taxpaper's money. I think annual performance awards should... more »