3 votes
If a civilian or military member is idle in one job, perhaps they can perform another instead of just sitting there? I know many people who volunteer or are voluntold to help out where needed, but if personnel were specialized in two or three areas instead of just one, it would be a better utilization of manpower.
5 votes
While I applaud and support actions to reform Government, improve effectiveness/efficiency, increase competitiveness, and stimulate innovation, I believe insufficient effort is being placed on establishing a persistent culture of continuous change, innovation and adaptability . While pursuing isolated, short term improvements within Federal Agencies will yield some results, the more important goal should be to recognize ...more »
While I applaud and support actions to reform Government, improve effectiveness/efficiency, increase competitiveness, and stimulate innovation, I believe insufficient effort is being placed on establishing a persistent culture of continuous change, innovation and adaptability .
While pursuing isolated, short term improvements within Federal Agencies will yield some results, the more important goal should be to recognize the realities of the "knowledge economy", accept change as a constant, and improve Government agility by routinely harvesting the creativity, innovation and knowledge creation abilities within the federal workforce. After all, if we truly acknowledge our most important resource is our people, our second most important resource is the knowledge those people possess (and oh by the way, knowledge is the only resource that grows, as opposed to being consumed, when used/shared). Bottom line, knowledge management is the key to ensuring (1) change, innovation and adaptiblity is consistently recognized and rewarded as core competencies at the lowest level, (2) business processes iiprovements are routinely stimulated, harvested and shared within, and between, organizations, and (3) the Government, and the United States as a whole, is more competive, innovative and adaptive in the global knowledge economy.
While some federal departments and agencies claim to be making headway in using knowledge management (KM) to spearhead innovation and business process improvements, it's limited and distorted at best, and many of these efforts are hindered by longstanding industrial age practices and management structures. There are no formal Government or federal agency mandates to use KM to improve processes at the lowest levels, most mistakenly assume KM is Information Management/Information Technology (IM/IT), and in those agencies where change management and business transformation offices exist, it's at the highest levels, leading to an over-reliance on "centralization" remedies, as opposed to rewarding, stimulating and capitalizing on knowledge sharing and innovation by individuals at the point of the spear. This ultimately leads to diminishing, as opposed to empowering, the creativity of the federal workforce, as individuals hunker down to withstand the next iteration of personnel cuts, reorganizations, and other forms of outdated industrial age budget cut initiatives. It's not so much a question of "doing more with less", but "doing better with what you have".
In summary, while it is clear Government agencies need to take actions to cut spending and be more effictive/efficient, there will be no longterm benefits if approached as the traditional time-driven "suggestions award" program. What's needed, Government-wide and at the lowest levels within every federal agency, is establishment of knowledge management office/program specifically chartered to lead, stimulate, and harvest innovation, creativy and business process improvements, to include methods to measure, report and reinvest the results (effectiveness/efficiency, manpower, cost savings/avoidance, etc). Some may question if we can afford to do this, and I would respond we can't afford not to.
While these are certainly my opinions, recently published books such as "The Power of Pull", "The New Edge in Knowledge", and "The Starfish and the Spider" are just a few publications from the commercial sector that enunciate the importance of these theories, principles and practices.
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9 votes
The President's 2011 annual budget submittal was more than $1.5T over revenue. His submittal should not exceed revenue. According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_United_States_federal_budget )the Presiden'ts budget plan was $3.82T with projected revenue of $2.17T -- a deficit of $1.65T. That should be a non-starter. Require a comprehensive budget plan that does not exceed last year's revenue. If ...more »
The President's 2011 annual budget submittal was more than $1.5T over revenue. His submittal should not exceed revenue.
According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_United_States_federal_budget )the Presiden'ts budget plan was $3.82T with projected revenue of $2.17T -- a deficit of $1.65T. That should be a non-starter. Require a comprehensive budget plan that does not exceed last year's revenue. If you have a 'good' year, then the next year's budget submittal can be larger but not until that time.
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10 votes
Revise this lame website such that we more can more readily browse the topics and use a variety of query methods. For example, use a semantic engine to automatically create or suggest tags. Make a more visual clustering of the ideas and tags. For example, make the size of tags in proportion to their popularity.
5 votes
Consolidate the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) and Naval Supply Command (NAVSUP) into the Naval Installations Command (NIC). In 2003 all Class 1 (land) and 2 (infrastructure) real property was assigned to NIC. The consolidation of real property under one command is a good one. But in the end this consolidation created another command that was not provided the capabilities to perform its mission. In order ...more »
Consolidate the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) and Naval Supply Command (NAVSUP) into the Naval Installations Command (NIC).
In 2003 all Class 1 (land) and 2 (infrastructure) real property was assigned to NIC. The consolidation of real property under one command is a good one. But in the end this consolidation created another command that was not provided the capabilities to perform its mission. In order for NIC to perform its mission it requires contracting / acquisition capabilities. For NIC to accomplish its contracting / acquisition responsibilities NIC has had to utilize Memorandums of Understanding with NAVFAC and NAVSUP in order to provide the support, in its Host role, to the Tenant commands located at its shore facilities. In addition, to acquisition support NIC has arranged for personnel from NAVFAC and NAVSUP perform basic planning, programming and budgeting services associated with Environmental, Operational (Supply) and Facility Support.
My opinion this is an inefficient and costly arrangement. The two service providers have no real vested interest in planning, programming, and submitting budgets for NIC. Both NAVFAC and NAVSUP are service providers and have not traditionally been involved in planning and programming for long term requirements. They are both short term planning agencies who, purchase this, construct this, or maintain that based on the funds provided during a given execution year. Their customers provide them with their future requirements based on the contracting / acquisitions they have projected they will be funded for. This short sightedness for long term planning has created a shortfall in funds required to cover the required annual life cycle costs. This arrangement is similar to contracting to a consultant asking them to tell you what your annual requirements are and how much will it cost. Then with that information you turn around and hire the same consultant make sure the services that they identified and provided a cost for are performed.
NAVFAC and NAVSUP need to be consolidated into NIC. There are duplicative contracting /acquisition functions within both that could be consolidated into one contracting / acquisition department. The organizational structures could be consolidated into one Headquarters and all Regional Commands rolled into NIC’s structure. This would allow for a reduction of high level staff positions, eliminating some and transferring remaining billets to the major installation level at lower grades. All major installation Commands under NIC should be converted from appropriated funded commands to working capital funded commands. NIC provides appropriated funds via its Regional Commands for the basic operating and support services for the property, infrastructure, and mission tenants assigned to the major installations within. Regional Commands should be looking for common support services that could be bundled and provided to its major installations. The major installations are identified as working capital funded and staffed to provide the basic services to its mission tenant commands. Mission Tenant Commands who require support and service above the basic level can obtain those from the major installation (Host) at the same working capital fund rates established for that Region by NIC.
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7 votes
Why cannot the Chief Information Officers (CIOs) of civilian executive departments, such as USDA, consult with their counterparts in U.S. defense and intelligence agencies to obtain copies of security software used to protect the computers of these organizations? After all, the taxpayers have already financed tremendous outlays for this software. Yet, the civilian organizations purchase commercial software, which often ...more »
Why cannot the Chief Information Officers (CIOs) of civilian executive departments, such as USDA, consult with their counterparts in U.S. defense and intelligence agencies to obtain copies of security software used to protect the computers of these organizations? After all, the taxpayers have already financed tremendous outlays for this software. Yet, the civilian organizations purchase commercial software, which often does not perform as well as the proprietary software used in the defense and intelligence agencies. Of course, we may not really want to know the actual reasons for such waste.
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3 votes
Wouldn't it be a better to pay locals in Afghanistan and Iraq the going salary rate in their countries instead of the current inflated international rate? Better for the locals because we could put more of them to work to rebuild their own infrastructure and better for us because less expensive. Salaries in Germany after the war were moderate and look how quickly they rebuilt their country. Locals working for the internationals ...more »
Wouldn't it be a better to pay locals in Afghanistan and Iraq the going salary rate in their countries instead of the current inflated international rate? Better for the locals because we could put more of them to work to rebuild their own infrastructure and better for us because less expensive. Salaries in Germany after the war were moderate and look how quickly they rebuilt their country. Locals working for the internationals at inflated rates scew the whole economy.
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4 votes
Why are contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan making such exorbitant salaries? Huge rip-off of the U.S. government.
5 votes
Education is the key. We need to spend more for better education for our children. Without good education, America will lose its edge and lose out on the job front. Money spent for education is an investment in the future. There are so many smart underpriveleged kids we could tap into. With some effort, we could have them contributing far more to society and feeling better about themselves. Math and science are especially ...more »
Education is the key. We need to spend more for better education for our children. Without good education, America will lose its edge and lose out on the job front. Money spent for education is an investment in the future. There are so many smart underpriveleged kids we could tap into. With some effort, we could have them contributing far more to society and feeling better about themselves. Math and science are especially important for the future.
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3 votes
FSOs in my agency often involve themselves in functions outside the responsibilities of the agency. These colleagues engage in activities only tangentially related to the mission of the agency, because they are desperate to earn a promotion to avoid dismissal from the agency. Over time, Civil Service employees also engage in similarly reckless behavior. Then, the agency administrator cannot respond well to Congressional ...more »
FSOs in my agency often involve themselves in functions outside the responsibilities of the agency. These colleagues engage in activities only tangentially related to the mission of the agency, because they are desperate to earn a promotion to avoid dismissal from the agency. Over time, Civil Service employees also engage in similarly reckless behavior. Then, the agency administrator cannot respond well to Congressional inquiries as to why the organization is doing things outside its core mission. Finally, having lost confidence in the agency, Congress decides to reduce the agency’s budget.
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6 votes
The Federal government can benefit from a resource standpoint by availing itself of the large potential untapped pool of inmate labor. This would not only help supplement precious Federal employee resources, but will simultaneously support the Administration's Inmate Reentry Initiative. Federal inmates are in critical need of training and work skills development, and having inmates perform non-sensitive, administrative ...more »
The Federal government can benefit from a resource standpoint by availing itself of the large potential untapped pool of inmate labor. This would not only help supplement precious Federal employee resources, but will simultaneously support the Administration's Inmate Reentry Initiative. Federal inmates are in critical need of training and work skills development, and having inmates perform non-sensitive, administrative services and related support tasks and functions can result in savings to Federal budgets while providing inmates with critical skills needed for successful reentry. Inmates could perform work that would otherwise might not get accomplished, and/or help in reducing Federal backlog of administrative support and related service work. Most inmates want to work, and would welcome the opportunity for productive training and work skills development. The benefits of this underutilized resource are many: (1) it provides marketable skills for inmates for reentry, improving the chances of their obtaining gainful employment upon release; (2) it will help reduce recidivism, thereby saving the taxpayer; (3) decreases inmate idleness, thereby making our prisons safer to manage for staff and inmates alike. This is a real WIN-WIN opportunity that is cost effective, will help reduce pressure on overstrapped Federal budgets, and can help the Administration achieve multiple goals simultaneously.
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9 votes
For one year, do not send any foreign country billions of our citizens tax $. We cannot be the crutch for every country and their people. We should not support corrupt leaders (billions to Quaddafi) with the TAX $ OF OUR CITIZENS! Why should we make them more viable while we have poor and unemployed and elderly HERE!
6 votes
Native Americans are so badly treated it is appaling. We need to disolve the Bureau of Indian Affairs, close all the Reservations, give each Native American full citizenship rights and provide assistance to them to assimilate in a world outside the Reservation. Too much money is being spend on Indian affairs and the Native Americans themselves are not seeing it. They have substandard education, no employment, high ...more »
Native Americans are so badly treated it is appaling. We need to disolve the Bureau of Indian Affairs, close all the Reservations, give each Native American full citizenship rights and provide assistance to them to assimilate in a world outside the Reservation. Too much money is being spend on Indian affairs and the Native Americans themselves are not seeing it. They have substandard education, no employment, high crime rates on the Reservations and little hope of ever becoming independant. How can we treat them so very badly, while we roll out the red carpet to illegals and Muslim terrorists?
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5 votes
The key to this initiative has already been adopted as the official motto of the United States: In God we trust. I would like to point out what has been given us in Romans 9:16: It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. My life is blessed with excellent direction, and it pains me to watch this nation and so many of its people leaning on their own understanding. To me, it is clear that ...more »
The key to this initiative has already been adopted as the official motto of the United States: In God we trust.
I would like to point out what has been given us in Romans 9:16: It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.
My life is blessed with excellent direction, and it pains me to watch this nation and so many of its people leaning on their own understanding.
To me, it is clear that the people of our nation should trust in the Lord with all their hearts. While we can and obviously have chosen paths other than His ways, He remains for us. My input as this initiative wraps, is to read both Psalm 33 and Isaiah 64 – He acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. Not wasting energy is the definition of efficiency.
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9 votes
The 4,000 DCAA employees no longer serve the acquisiton community because of documentation requirements extending the life of an audit and the issuance of a report beyond its useful life for the buying commands and negotiators. Place auditors in the buying commands so the audit is the focus, rather than the extreme documentation that does not increase the quality of the audit or the reduction in the proposed costs.
8 votes
We have so many brilliant people in the U.S. - we were able to fly to the moon within a decade of declaring that our goal. Hard to believe no one has come up with an alternative form of energy to replace oil. How about offering a prize of 5 million dollars for anyone who does? And lesser ones for those who come close or make significant strides in that direction?
4 votes
We must stop relying on foreign oil. The adinistration should allow offshore drilling. We must convert to more green enegy sources, but the length of time required to do that will put us even more dependant on foreign oil. We should drill as much as possible and mine coal. Not instead of green energy but to make us independant of foreign oil while we are going green.
3 votes
The US used to attract the best and the brightest from all around the world. Since 9/11, restrictive U.S. immigration policies are causing these individuals to go elsewhere - to Canada, Germany, etc. We need these innovative individuals to get our economy going again.
4 votes
My idea is to create an inter instillation listing of surplus consumable materials on military bases. I know that the Army is currently operating in a “Buy it twice, Use it once” situation when it comes to consumables. I know this from my experience as a former active duty Army MP and I am currently a DA civilian. Often consumable materials that are purchased by units and directorates are only partially used. The ...more »
My idea is to create an inter instillation listing of surplus consumable materials on military bases.
I know that the Army is currently operating in a “Buy it twice, Use it once” situation when it comes to consumables. I know this from my experience as a former active duty Army MP and I am currently a DA civilian.
Often consumable materials that are purchased by units and directorates are only partially used. The remaining material is usually discarded. For example, let’s say that a project was started by a maintenance section and the mission changed so that the project had to be canceled. The materials for the canceled project would then be stored by that section for a later project. The materials are then forgotten about and left to rot, or a command change occurs and the new commander comes in and “cleans house” as so many commanders do. What is to be done with the surplus consumable material?
If it were durable, it would be sent to DRMO. If it were hazardous, like paint, it would be sent to Hazmat Recycle. From either of these places it would be reissued to other units or sections for use.
Here is a real world situation that almost happened. A directorate purchased several new printers to be used in all of their offices. All printers were the same make and model. That means they all used the same consumable printer cartridges. One office processed much more documentation than all of the other offices; therefore that office stocked many more cartridges for their printer. On the flip side their printer’s life was much shorter do to the enormous amount of use it received in performing its needed function. By the time the printer failed, a newer printer was purchased of a different model. Now what to do with the left over cartridges from the old printer? Those cartridges were almost thrown out. Luckily someone in a nearby office asked for cartridge and it was realized that the old cartridges could be handed over to other offices.
What if the personal working in the office where the printer went bad, had an option to simply go onto their instillation’s home page and post those cartridges as available? This could have then been seen by other directorates and units on that instillation who were still using the older model printer. After that, a few emails would have been exchanged and then a reallocation of the old printer cartridges could have been made possible.
Now that I think about it, this sounds like a web sight that we all use to part with extra things cluttering up our homes called Craigslist.
I believe that a DoD version of “Craigslist” with a .mil URL that was focused strictly on consumable materials, would save the DoD a fairly large sum of money.
Proper scope would have to be recognized and adhered to for this idea to be effective. For example; it is not cost effective to ship two sheets of plywood from Fort Hood TX to Fort Drum NY. It would however be a cost savings to ship two sheets of plywood from one motor pool on Fort Riley to another motor pool on Fort Riley.
The personal who have access to view and post material on this listing would have to be restricted. I.e. unit commanders, supply personal, maintenance personal, etcetera.
I feel that if this idea were to be put into place, tailored and refined to the needs of each instillation; that each branch of service inside the DoD would see a dramatic saving on their expense of consumable materials purchased each year.
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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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4 votes
Currently the publication of regulatory (rulemaking) plans and documents, and the acceptance and management of comments, is scattered between the Regulatory Information Service Center in GSA (regulatory plans and semi-annual unified agenda), the daily Federal Register (Office of the Federal Register, NARA), and Federal Docket Management System / Regulations.gov (e-rulemaking) program office in EPA. All this, including ...more »
Currently the publication of regulatory (rulemaking) plans and documents, and the acceptance and management of comments, is scattered between the Regulatory Information Service Center in GSA (regulatory plans and semi-annual unified agenda), the daily Federal Register (Office of the Federal Register, NARA), and Federal Docket Management System / Regulations.gov (e-rulemaking) program office in EPA.
All this, including the FDMS / Regulations.gov system, should be consolidated within the Office of the Federal Register and on one website. Currently, a citizen could visit 3 websites run by 3 different agencies in order to get the whole picture about a particular proposed regulation.
A citizen should be able to visit one website to view an agency's regulatory plan and its proposed regulations (as well as final rules and other notices of interest), and then be able to submit comments on the proposed rule through the same website.
It would seem to make more sense to have a "comment here" and "view all comments / view entire docket" links within a Federal Register document instead of having to go to an entirely different website to submit and view comments on a proposed rule.
Thank you for considering this idea.
Michael Hoover
former Federal Register editor & current Federal Register liaison officer for TTB.
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5 votes
Vehicle registration, driver licensing and auto insurance requirements should be consistency throughout the nation. It is costly for citizens to move from one state to the next and have to pay for a new title, different cost in insurance because of different requirements. Vehicle registration would be bring in revenue to the federal government, create uniformity and consistency from state to state as well as easier ...more »
Vehicle registration, driver licensing and auto insurance requirements should be consistency throughout the nation. It is costly for citizens to move from one state to the next and have to pay for a new title, different cost in insurance because of different requirements. Vehicle registration would be bring in revenue to the federal government, create uniformity and consistency from state to state as well as easier tracking of licensing and vehicle standards.
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7 votes
Fed employees especially "managers" have NO appropriate management/motivation/leadership training or skills. They define "efficiency" as numbers and putting on "paper" what the receiver (Congress, OIG, GAO, VACO, etc) wants to hear. True problems/conflicts are never identified (if they are, they are quickly covered up and never disclosed by management; if employees disclose them they are reprised or fired).......so nothing ...more »
Fed employees especially "managers" have NO appropriate management/motivation/leadership training or skills. They define "efficiency" as numbers and putting on "paper" what the receiver (Congress, OIG, GAO, VACO, etc) wants to hear. True problems/conflicts are never identified (if they are, they are quickly covered up and never disclosed by management; if employees disclose them they are reprised or fired).......so nothing is resolved and inefficiencies worsen with time, nepotism, reprisal, etc.
The majority of fed employees have NEVER worked in private sector where they were held accountable and had to be efficient and were valued. Many fed employees hide under federal supremacy and say "no one can do anything to me, fed law supercedes state law."Even professionals with state licenses say this instead of just doing the right thing and complying with their practice acts, Joint Commission, etc. Veterans go from clinic to clinic where FEW practioners take time to identify problems so vets get worse and keep going to clinics so resources are wasted...until the vet has to be sourced outside VA to get what they really need, or sadly, their condition worsens and they get more disability income or die.
We have too many top and middle managers, many of whom got their jobs for reasons other than they were qualified for the job. NO one assumes responsibility for accountability so those "under" them are mismanaged at best. 50% of employees' time is spent on computers doing: mandatory 90 question tests on LMS.....multiple times because LMS shows you haven't taken or passed the test!!!; entering/re-entering leave because Timekeepers aren't held accountable; reading emails that are useless because no one reads them initially or doesn't respond and the chain keeps going; all level of managers spend far more time covering up fraud/abuse/mismanagement and the resultant reprisal than it would take to just do the right thing; inefficient HR with no consistent interpretation of Master Agreement/Directives/Handbooks, etc so managers and employee are all told something different and the fallacies continue until they are so far from the truth it's a joke; HR specialists incapable of determining who is qualified for jobs, but it doesn't matter if they are going to hire whoever they had already decided before the job was posted; why would a hospital hire a Chief of SPD who has NEVER worked in a hospital????...been done twice here; when Nursing submits total number of FTEs it should clearly show the actual number of nurses in direct patient care at least 80% of the time instead of the large number who actually rarely see patients....this presents Congress/OIG/GAO/vets with inaccurate number; all VA hospitals need to define how we are "integrated" because every VA hospital interprets policies differently and there is no consistencies in practices; we must define, demand, and produce effective outcomes and hold all employees accountable; we must recruit and retain only the most qualified and compliant employees; we must have direct and strong leadership from the top and reduce middle managers and empower those employees who are trying to do what they are trained for TO DO their jobs!!
Reform entitlements for vets and make them accountable.....if they aren't compliant with their health and money management (homeless, addiction education, housing, etc programs) those benefits should cease. Too many vets just come for the travel pay and to make sure their visits are documented so they can continue to receive benefits. How many times must a vet be allowed to enter a homeless, PTSD, Addiction, etc program? IT has to be a two way street..........most VA employees just want to provide vets with what they need. Sadly, VHA employees have not been held accountable for effective documentation and determination of what is reasonable and necessary for our vets. Nor has management been held accountable for determing how to effectively provide what our vets truly need.
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8 votes
The Germans are creating a lot of high calibre jobs by investing in alternative forms of energy. We should do the same.
5 votes
Aviation and Mechanical (tactical vehicle) contractors making 3x the amount of Soldiers to do 3x less work, sometimes making more work for the Soldiers. This is overseas and in the middle east. If contractors are there to do the work, then bring Soldiers home; otherwise, save the money and send the contractors home to the states. It's very wasteful to have both there (Europe and downrange) at the same time doing the ...more »
Aviation and Mechanical (tactical vehicle) contractors making 3x the amount of Soldiers to do 3x less work, sometimes making more work for the Soldiers. This is overseas and in the middle east. If contractors are there to do the work, then bring Soldiers home; otherwise, save the money and send the contractors home to the states. It's very wasteful to have both there (Europe and downrange) at the same time doing the same job.
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