3 votes
In the hierarchy of government agencies it seems that all the agencies that benefit the people the most are actually UNDER the department of Energy. Which means that ALL regulation (including EPA, national parks etc) are determined by what is dictated by the department of energy. Change that. Make the DOE a stand alone without any power to manipulate our economy, our public lands and our government function
7 votes
Require executive (including the President) and legislative branches of government to provide the American voting public with quarterly reports clearly outlining their priorities and projected actions. A state of the union speach summarizing past actions is a bit disconcerting. "rebuttals" to this effort are useless babble. If we all knew what was planned, we might have a better chance of influencing decision makers ...more »
Require executive (including the President) and legislative branches of government to provide the American voting public with quarterly reports clearly outlining their priorities and projected actions. A state of the union speach summarizing past actions is a bit disconcerting. "rebuttals" to this effort are useless babble. If we all knew what was planned, we might have a better chance of influencing decision makers to better consider what their constituents really need and/or want. Once it's done, it's already too late.
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10 votes
Every employee in DHS/CBP/OIOC is required to have a Blackberry. They all don't need them! There are over 139 personnel in the Office of Intelligence Operations Coordination (OIOC). Management should get them as they are accountable to Senior Leadership, so that is maybe 6 blackberries 10 on the outside vice the 139 now being bought and supported. Think of the hundereds of thousands of dollars in saving in that one ...more »
Every employee in DHS/CBP/OIOC is required to have a Blackberry. They all don't need them! There are over 139 personnel in the Office of Intelligence Operations Coordination (OIOC). Management should get them as they are accountable to Senior Leadership, so that is maybe 6 blackberries 10 on the outside vice the 139 now being bought and supported. Think of the hundereds of thousands of dollars in saving in that one office alone. Now think about that savings across the whole government. Senior Leadership should be the only ones issued blackberries. Why do normal employees actually need them? (Understand that other parts and employees of CBP have a valid need like the Border Patrol Agents actually on the borders, etc.) What did we ever do before the "crackberry?"
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11 votes
The entire government, from civil servants to elected officials needs to be overhauled. However, change must begin somewhere, and that "where" is within how human resources and personnel management are handled. Because Congress is supposed to be serving the American public, just as the rest of us civil employees, they should be subject to the same rules, laws, and regulations with which the Office of Personnel Management ...more »
The entire government, from civil servants to elected officials needs to be overhauled. However, change must begin somewhere, and that "where" is within how human resources and personnel management are handled.
Because Congress is supposed to be serving the American public, just as the rest of us civil employees, they should be subject to the same rules, laws, and regulations with which the Office of Personnel Management governs us, especially where it pertains to pay, allowances, background security verifications, and benefits.
As a Defense Finance and Accounting Service employee for nearly eighteen years, my coworkers and I know that if we do not perform our jobs effectively, not only are the war fighters and their families adversely affected, but so are we. Unfortunately, we have been negatively impacted by negligible to nonexistent cost of living pay increases while Congress enjoys their self-implemented pay increases and paid vacations at the expense of the American taxpayers.
Congress has been allowed to function, cooperate (or not), and be productive (or not) at their own discretion, while having their pay and benefits virtually uninterrupted and steadily increasing. The American people all suffer because of their procrastination and dereliction of duties. Yet no reforms have taken place there as they should. Congress not only needs to be more transparent, but more accountable for their actions and failures to act.
Instead, the brunt of improving efficiency in government has fallen on the common employees who are “in the trenches” of conducting this great nation’s business. We are victims of spending cut-backs which affect the amount of cash and time-off awards and other quality incentives that are given to well-deserving employees – awards, which have been proven to be essential morale boosters and motivators.
Position and Time studies were performed under the guise of attempting to ensure that the salaries for particular position classifications are indistinguishable from identical positions across DFAS. However, we still have an imbalance between duties and pay grade. As a result of some of these reassessments, some of our positions have been down-graded though the type of work we do has increased in technical difficulty and volume and may remain at a higher grade at a different work site.
We have been subject to hiring freezes/ pauses though over 50% of the workforce is retirement eligible; so more work is being completed by fewer people. Congress elected to employ a program to ensure that our agency is not without leadership – the now defunct Leaders in Motion Program. However, that initiative was doomed to failure because what government needs is more people who actually do the work, not more supervisors and managers.
Basically, in order to reform our nation’s competency, one, a fresher workforce needs to be employed to replace retirees as they depart instead of the following year or not at all. This will take some stress and strain off the remaining workforce, which will result in decreased Sick Leave usage and increased presence. Two, position classifications and rankings need to be completed and made uniform throughout government according to their series. This will also ensure that candidates have the proper skill sets for the same type of job no matter the location. Three, current employees need to feel valued, and the best way to do that is to say “well done” with a token that reflects that. Last, but not least, promote employees within agencies rather than hire from off the street. Veteran employees have more direct knowledge and have already formed working relationships with their coworkers and customers. This would reduce the amount spent on training fledglings that are unfamiliar with the internal workings of the government.
These improvements will put country on the right track to success for all its citizens.
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44 votes
The prison systems appear to be full of able-bodied individuals with a lot of new found time on their hands. Turn this workforce into farmers for internal food production and consumption. Reduce electricity consumption with onsite energy production (more secure sky lighting, no TV, night time complete darkness with battery backed up IR for security, extensive solar panel network, treadmills hooked to generators ect..). ...more »
The prison systems appear to be full of able-bodied individuals with a lot of new found time on their hands. Turn this workforce into farmers for internal food production and consumption. Reduce electricity consumption with onsite energy production (more secure sky lighting, no TV, night time complete darkness with battery backed up IR for security, extensive solar panel network, treadmills hooked to generators ect..). Reduce water consumption with timed showers and utilize local wells or infrastructure collecting rain water. Reserve waste removal and laundry for the underachievers and unmotivated. Offer and impairment “arts and craft”/”essential manufacturing” time to create products for resale to cover any additional costs (guards salaries, medical treatment, education, and rehabilitation supplies, ect…) It’s just that simple and will save piles of cash and wasted resources in the long run.
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4 votes
Many govt processes/systems/departments are inefficient because they have to be. Checks and balances require them to be so. Stop focusing on trying to improve those and identify areas that can and should be improved. This will de-mystify and clarify ineffective vs. effective government and stop the notion that all/more government is always bad.
11 votes
From the New York Times -- this is appalling. Only science should direct decisions about the Endangered Species Act: Congress, in a First, Removes an Animal From the Endangered Species List Congress for the first time is directly intervening in the Endangered Species List and removing an animal from it, establishing a precedent for political influence over the list that has outraged environmental groups. A rider ...more »
From the New York Times -- this is appalling. Only science should direct decisions about the Endangered Species Act:
Congress, in a First, Removes an Animal From the Endangered Species List
Congress for the first time is directly intervening in the Endangered Species List and removing an animal from it, establishing a precedent for political influence over the list that has outraged environmental groups.
A rider to the Congressional budget measure agreed to last weekend dictates that wolves in Montana and Idaho be taken off the endangered species list and managed instead by state wildlife agencies, which is in direct opposition to a federal judge’s recent decision forbidding the Interior Department to take such an action.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/us/politics/13wolves.html?_r=1
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/us/politics/13wolves.html?scp=2&sq=wolf&st=cse
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4 votes
The U.S. Government, in many departments own patents. These patents are based on government research. Many of these thousands of patents are worth thousands or millions of dollars in license revenue to business and industry around the world. Given a person familiar with patents, intellectual property, and licensing, the Government owned patents could off-set budget problems and generate cash through licensing to private ...more »
The U.S. Government, in many departments own patents. These patents are based on government research. Many of these thousands of patents are worth thousands or millions of dollars in license revenue to business and industry around the world. Given a person familiar with patents, intellectual property, and licensing, the Government owned patents could off-set budget
problems and generate cash through licensing to private industry. I have years of experience in licensing if someone would like to talk about this.
IBM for example makes over $1 billion per year with a license team of less than 200 people. Many other firms do the same.
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55 votes
The last time I traveled it was from Maryland to Nevada. Because DTS is difficult to use, I initially started finding flights through commercial airline websites. When I found a few flights that would work, I located them in DTS. A roundabout way, sure, but much easier and quicker in the long run than dealing with the ever-crashing DTS system, inconsistent information, confusing layout design, etc. When I found my flight ...more »
The last time I traveled it was from Maryland to Nevada. Because DTS is difficult to use, I initially started finding flights through commercial airline websites. When I found a few flights that would work, I located them in DTS. A roundabout way, sure, but much easier and quicker in the long run than dealing with the ever-crashing DTS system, inconsistent information, confusing layout design, etc.
When I found my flight onlined I noticed the price jumped from $190 as offered by the commericial airline's website to $950 on DTS.
SAME exact flight number, date, time, airline, seat, everything...but almost $800 more. Why? I'm not getting special treatment, just a normal trip.
(And this wasn't the first time I noticed the drastic difference in price.)
Yes, I understand that these government airline tickets can be changed at a moment's notice without incurring addition fees, but is that benefit really work $800?
But then again, as a normal passenger I could notify the airline (not the DTS travel agent) and also change my flight at a moment's notice..only the fee would be about a $150 or $200. So, even with that, my $190 ticket would go up to $390. It's still far less money than the $900 ticket I was forced to purchase through DTS.
Furthermore, once I add trip information in DTS it is sent to another travel agent that must then do the purchasing for me. I can only imagine it must cost the government millions of dollars to pay these contractor travel agents to click "buy ticket" online.
Perhaps this was a great system ten years ago, but with today's easy access to airline and trip planning websites, we no longer need travel agents to do the work for us.
DTS is great for keeping track of government travel, finding per diem rates, and logging receipts for reimbursement, but it is absolutely ridiculous to pay more than double the commercial rate for flights. It is furthermore a waste of time and money to hire travel agent.
If you want to save the government millions of dollars, or more, each year, then take a serious look at the DTS contracts, budget, ticket prices, and travel agent middle men.
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13 votes
Have a review of tenure for all government employees every five years. Underperforming employees will have six months to a year to improve performance or they will be terminated. (Yes, I am a government employee of 10 years and I like my job and enjoy my colleagues. But we are all frustrated by the "dead wood" that accumulates, particularly close to retirement, and the lack of incentives for these employees to actually ...more »
Have a review of tenure for all government employees every five years. Underperforming employees will have six months to a year to improve performance or they will be terminated.
(Yes, I am a government employee of 10 years and I like my job and enjoy my colleagues. But we are all frustrated by the "dead wood" that accumulates, particularly close to retirement, and the lack of incentives for these employees to actually try and do the jobs they are being paid to do. Let's give them some incentives!!)
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12 votes
Unless Congress decides NOT to fund a federal agency, continue it at its current level. That would save billions in all this government shutdown malarkey, and focus Congress on what it really should be doing -- setting policy priorities over how the government spends money.
14 votes
One Day Off or Furlough for one day starting from the top down to military and civilians. This idea would save the Government and the U.S.A. Nation funds on a yearly basis. The idea is spreading the furlough to all Government and Military but NOT at the SAME TIME. For God sake what is this government Idea on FURLOUGH EVERY ONE AT THE SAME TIME. I am putting this on bullets for simplicity, so the idea can be escalated ...more »
One Day Off or Furlough for one day starting from the top down to military and civilians.
This idea would save the Government and the U.S.A. Nation funds on a yearly basis. The idea is spreading the furlough to all Government and Military but NOT at the SAME TIME. For God sake what is this government Idea on FURLOUGH EVERY ONE AT THE SAME TIME. I am putting this on bullets for simplicity, so the idea can be escalated accordingly and steps can be added or removed.
1- Spread the furlough to Government employees and military to only one DAY (a day off without pay) but distributing the load to different employees at different time frame (not all at the same time.)
2- Starting from the President down to the Vice-President, Congressman, Senate everybody would received a day off without pay.
3- On the other hand, the same for all Military branches, starting from the top down, one day off without pay for generals, commanders, officers, and enlisted. Everyone will take it but not at the same time.
4- PAY Roll has to be set up to accommodate for this day off ensuring the day is not pay accordingly to the proposal. And not like few years ago when EVERYONE was off and EVERYONE still received payment for the days off. A nice free vacation with payment included.
5- We all need to remember, even if the president does not receive pay for one day, he is still the president with decision to make on HIS DAY OFF. And same thing with every military commander, pretty much they all giving a day off without pay but their executive officer or next in the change of command will be incharged.
6- There is always a backup plan when 25 or 50% of an outfit organization is off duty, the other 50% takes over and performs the function of the office. As the norm when a supervisor is off the next level supervisor takes charge until current supervisor comes back.
7- Do this for one year, equally shared to all branches of the government and military. Analyze the cost saving and if it works and does not hurt anyone, make it a proposal and mandate to future years.
8- This also can be implemented to States Government hierarchy.
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64 votes
Do not allow the Treasury Department to borrow money from Federal Retirement Funds. Removing money from any fund in the TSP will result in losses and could potentially have direct impacts on retirement funds. Stating "TSP participants should have nothing to worry about" does not guarantee there will be no impact. Even if they paid back the borrowed amount plus interest, where would we get back our "earnings" for the ...more »
Do not allow the Treasury Department to borrow money from Federal Retirement Funds. Removing money from any fund in the TSP will result in losses and could potentially have direct impacts on retirement funds. Stating "TSP participants should have nothing to worry about" does not guarantee there will be no impact. Even if they paid back the borrowed amount plus interest, where would we get back our "earnings" for the amount? We would be out that much more money in a so-called "no-risk" account.
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33 votes
Why do the taxpayers have to pay for POLITICAL primaries? We should not have to pay for anything political. I have no problem paying for an election but put everyone on the ballot. If a party wants to narrow the field let them pay for it.
22 votes
Make Congress responsible by forcing them to pass a budget in a timely manner and which reduces the federal deficit.
38 votes
http://www.hud.gov/complaints/fraud_waste.cfm -section 8 and low income housing encourages dependency and complacent behavior. Why work when you can get a house for practically free and keep collecting entitlements. ILLLEGAL squatting and unauthrized people live with a legal tenet often and this is a criminal offense since changes in family size and income are required to be reported. the section 8 system and low income ...more »
http://www.hud.gov/complaints/fraud_waste.cfm -section 8 and low income housing encourages dependency and complacent behavior. Why work when you can get a house for practically free and keep collecting entitlements. ILLLEGAL squatting and unauthrized people live with a legal tenet often and this is a criminal offense since changes in family size and income are required to be reported. the section 8 system and low income housing system is a complete failure which has drained the US economy of trillions of dollars and maintained tenets in social and financial bondage. there is no incentive to leave section 8 or low income housing. why work or attend college when you can get housing for free or low cost. This encouranges drug abuse and out of wedlock births and tenet abuse by housing squatters and unauthorized people living in the units. section 8 and low income housing also reduce local taxpayers home values and create blighted neighborhoods with loud music and cars with dark windows and dirty messy yards often with dirt as a yard.. SECTION 8 and LOW INCOME HOUSING TENETS NEED TIME LIMITS of 1 to 3 years then they must be evicted from the units since they are living on free enititlements and have no incentive to Raise themselves out of the free benefits. WAKE UP AMERICA! WE ARE TRILLIONS IN DEBT and giving away FREE BENEFITS . remember that all secion 8 and low income housing authoritys are TAX FREE and you pay the costs of educating the people and their rents are susidized and food and insurance are subsidized and paid for. its like the midlle and upper class is paying triple to live, we all have to pay for everyone else.. its not fair..http://www.hud.gov/complaints/fraud_waste.cfm
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11 votes
The main efficiency problem of the federal government is detachment, or the not-my-job mindset. If you really want to see a fast, efficient federal work force, get everyone in the department to start communicating and working together on everything regardless of title or seniority. In every department there is someone slacking off and someone over tasked, and those roles may change over time due to the chunkiness of our ...more »
The main efficiency problem of the federal government is detachment, or the not-my-job mindset. If you really want to see a fast, efficient federal work force, get everyone in the department to start communicating and working together on everything regardless of title or seniority. In every department there is someone slacking off and someone over tasked, and those roles may change over time due to the chunkiness of our work (that is to say the workload is intermittent and an individual's workload varies from day to day or week to week). This chunkiness is an inherent feature of qualitative work, and overcoming the problem requires providing an incentive to finish all projects, regardless of size and scope, as efficiently and quickly as possible.
My recommendation to achieve this without massive processes or oversight is to motivate and empower the employees to do it themselves. For example, you could give the option to all branches, departments, groups, etc, to work a 7 hour day instead of an 8 hour day with full pay. Then you make a couple of additional rules:
1. You must be able to show everyone in your group how your work could be finished in a 7 hour day. Meaning they know what you are doing and could do it themselves if need be.
2. Nobody leaves unless everyone in the group can leave, including supervisors. This means those that have nothing to do at the moment have to help others in order to leave early and nobody can hold on to task, working on one project too long to keep themselves busy or rake in the over time.
My point is this, trying to create some universal rule or process is not going to solve our efficiency problems. You have employed 2.15 million people, these people are smart enough to assess their situation and make improvements that work for their specific situation. However we are hindered by coworkers who don’t care, are too busy, or tried it before and gave up. We need some kind of unifying goal that is going to make us work as a team. If you were to implement this change I think you would see a radical improvement in the productivity, efficiency and work culture of the Government/DoD.
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15 votes
I like most ideas on this website. I think that most ideas have come from somebody who is trying to do a great job at what they do. It has become so difficult to navigate through that, I have decided to take 15 minutes out of my day to dedicate to this at home on my own time. I believe that the top 25 contributors and top 25 idea submitters should be invited to bring their heads together and discuss what is really ...more »
I like most ideas on this website. I think that most ideas have come from somebody who is trying to do a great job at what they do.
It has become so difficult to navigate through that, I have decided to take 15 minutes out of my day to dedicate to this at home on my own time.
I believe that the top 25 contributors and top 25 idea submitters should be invited to bring their heads together and discuss what is really important to their agency and to the federal government as a whole.
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11 votes
Government employees with technical degrees perform their jobs according to their specific written performance appraisal and job description. Sometimes, because they are too close to their immediate work, they themselves cannot see where innovation in their own area might be made. As a counterpoint, an employee with advanced technical knowledge and enthusiasm might have good ideas that are readily applicable to another ...more »
Government employees with technical degrees perform their jobs according to their specific written performance appraisal and job description. Sometimes, because they are too close to their immediate work, they themselves cannot see where innovation in their own area might be made. As a counterpoint, an employee with advanced technical knowledge and enthusiasm might have good ideas that are readily applicable to another government laboratory or enterprise, but the employee is reluctant to discuss this with their immediate supervisors, for fear of being perceived as not concentrating on their own job.
I propose that an optional "20%" other technical activities be included in a Government employee's Job description, subject to normal supervisory and HR negotiation as to when and how this is to occur.
The benefit to the Government will be new, fresh, ideas, and increased patent and technology research and development, without new contracts and programs required, at least in the early phases of innovation.
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9 votes
Have the company / or / organization to share free time in an organizational, family or potluck / BBQ day.
At the potluck having employees, mid-managers and top managers together to open to each other on ideas and innovaton for better solution to the organization.
6 votes
Former Comptroller of the United States, David Walker should be asked to be a White House Special Assistant. He knows all about the budget, he speaks as a prophet. As any good prophet, he says there is hope if we actually do something. There is hope, but little time. Speaking before Congress didn't work. Mr Walker should be asked to be a Special Assistant to the President for the remainder of this Administration, and ...more »
Former Comptroller of the United States, David Walker should be asked to be a White House Special Assistant. He knows all about the budget, he speaks as a prophet. As any good prophet, he says there is hope if we actually do something. There is hope, but little time. Speaking before Congress didn't work.
Mr Walker should be asked to be a Special Assistant to the President for the remainder of this Administration, and be asked to sit in at any cabinet meeting. Every American should hear what Mr. Walker has said, mostly to deaf ears.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_M._Walker_(U.S._Comptroller_General)
He has a clarion call about what needs to be done for the budget and how to control spending.
If he is in cabinet meetings at the WH,, he can tell them how important it is to reign in spending, and most importantly, how it can be done. Appearing before Congress hasn't worked. He's no longer a government employee. As a Special Assistant to the President, he'll be able to function more effectively. Changes we need to make must be taken out of politics. We need to think like a business, at least long enough for the crisis to pass. We're stuck in the mud, we have to think cleverly to get pushed out.
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59 votes
"Nearly 1 in 10 House members paid at least six-figure bonuses to their staffs last year", see the link below. This is a nosebleed that must stop. Take the ability to give these bonuses out of Congressional hands. OMB or some other agency must approve. What this means is that the staffers THEMSELVES are putting in for a bonus. They do all the work. Millions of Americans are out of work, this is shameful waste of tax ...more »
"Nearly 1 in 10 House members paid at least six-figure bonuses to their staffs last year", see the link below. This is a nosebleed that must stop. Take the ability to give these bonuses out of Congressional hands. OMB or some other agency must approve.
What this means is that the staffers THEMSELVES are putting in for a bonus. They do all the work.
Millions of Americans are out of work, this is shameful waste of tax money.
http://www.legistorm.com/blog/some-members-very-generous-with-staff-bonuses.html
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12 votes
Extend the life of the PRINTER – no refreshing in 3 years is needed. The life spam on printers is actually measured by the amount of printouts the printer do in its life, and not because the printer is 3 years old and it needs to be replaced. YOU CAN ENVEN doubled this timeframe, and save cost for the office, the government and the tax payers. For example high-end and network printers has a life spam of 500,000 printouts, ...more »
Extend the life of the PRINTER – no refreshing in 3 years is needed.
The life spam on printers is actually measured by the amount of printouts the printer do in its life, and not because the printer is 3 years old and it needs to be replaced. YOU CAN ENVEN doubled this timeframe, and save cost for the office, the government and the tax payers.
For example high-end and network printers has a life spam of 500,000 printouts, this is approximately 100,000 per year for a total of 5 years. This is assuming the offices print 8350 pages per months. The printer even could last longer that the specified life spam stated by the manufacture. Parts can be replaced, and if the cost of repair exceed 40% of the cost of the printer, then it would not be economical to repair.
On another note, on today’s economy saving there is no need to print as mush as in the way we used to 5 or 10 years ago.
Save energy, do less waste, go paperless and save tax payers money
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24 votes
Instead of printing any Time and Attendance (TnA) document, some time even 3 sheets time 3 or 4 times (for distribution), adding any SF71 to it.... Do them electronically, store them and process them online. Some organization has and can process them via the mainframe financial institution or online secure services. There is no need to print them out, they all can be processed, verified and certified ELECTRONICALLY; ...more »
Instead of printing any Time and Attendance (TnA) document, some time even 3 sheets time 3 or 4 times (for distribution), adding any SF71 to it.... Do them electronically, store them and process them online.
Some organization has and can process them via the mainframe financial institution or online secure services.
There is no need to print them out, they all can be processed, verified and certified ELECTRONICALLY; here is the amount an employee can print every 2 weeks:
1- One copy for the employee,
2- Make another copy for the supervisor
3- And then another for the Admin or budget person to verify the entries.
4- If there is one error the cycle starts again, and you end up 2 or 3 time the initial amout printed originally.
ONE PERSON could generate 12 sheets or more just for each pay period (this assuming there is no mistake and the forms need to be printed again).... you can do the numbers, if you have 1000's employees.
Save more,,,,do less waste... Lets go paperless….
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14 votes
Our taxes go to the pay of Supreme Court Justices. Our children need to see them in attendance at any State of the Union Address. Each justice must be present. This is Our Government made visible--to the entire nation and to the the world. The arrogance of three or four of the nine not in attendance is something that should not be tolerated. One justice said they were like bumps on a log. Well, that is one person's made-up ...more »
Our taxes go to the pay of Supreme Court Justices.
Our children need to see them in attendance at any State of the Union Address. Each justice must be present. This is Our Government made visible--to the entire nation and to the the world.
The arrogance of three or four of the nine not in attendance is something that should not be tolerated. One justice said they were like bumps on a log. Well, that is one person's made-up perception--change your perception. Remember that someone is in a foxhole, that person would wish to be a bump on a log. If SOTU addresses bore you, you shouldn't have taken the job. Arrogance of the first rank, you were given the job because we thought you could be bi-partisan. Obviously they are not going to police themselves on this issue. The American people must demand it.
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