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Agriculture

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  If, In God we trust .............................

  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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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Increasing Trade, Exports, and Overall Competitiveness »

  Debt Ceiling

  Treat the current debt ceiling as an amount that cannot be exceeded. Please Mr. President, remain vigilant as you voted against raising the debt limit while you were in Congress.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Increasing Trade, Exports, and Overall Competitiveness »

  Furlough: No ----- Cut Waste: Yes

  If the waste, pork, subsidies, and social programs aren’t shrunk or eliminated and the ridiculous government overlaps and size of government is not reduced in short order, it should be determined that a lengthy furlough is essential until we are out of the budget crisis. No, a furlough is not good; it is terrible but may be necessary if the necessary cuts aren’t accomplished now. It should not be so much of a concern ...more »

  If the waste, pork, subsidies, and social programs aren’t shrunk or eliminated and the ridiculous government overlaps and size of government is not reduced in short order, it should be determined that a lengthy furlough is essential until we are out of the budget crisis. No, a furlough is not good; it is terrible but may be necessary if the necessary cuts aren’t accomplished now. It should not be so much of a concern that Junior will be disappointed because the park or US Capitol is temporarily closed, but rather that our loaner China would be the rightfully new owner of them. The non-critical…or non-essential…or non-excepted are deemed that for a reason – and now is the time to use reason and go without non-essentials during this budget crisis. Or cut, cut, cut. The need has been known for a long time. The government has become a detriment to the people, and the process to correct itself is overwhelming and moves like a turtle.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Bike during May for National Bike Month and More

  Biking to work and elsewhere decreases the need for foreign oil among other things. When I bike I decrease the trade deficit; reduce need for parking spaces; produce endorphins that make me more productive moreover eliminating any need for caffeine or other damaging artificial stimulants; contribute less to traffic jams, bikes can be faster than cars in urban areas and be less apt to be involved in road rage; pollute ...more »

  Biking to work and elsewhere decreases the need for foreign oil among other things. When I bike I decrease the trade deficit; reduce need for parking spaces; produce endorphins that make me more productive moreover eliminating any need for caffeine or other damaging artificial stimulants; contribute less to traffic jams, bikes can be faster than cars in urban areas and be less apt to be involved in road rage; pollute less and do less damage to the roads; lead by example as a public servant to make use of biking infrastructure however minimal it may be; and need less days off and require less health care (except for the fact I might live longer and be a burden to the system longer – sorry about that:).

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  ------ POV -- vs. -- GOV ------

  Stop deterring the driver of a POV from trying to travel more inexpensively than can be accomplished with a GOV. A new AAA study shows the cost to own and operate a sedan rose nearly 2 cents a mile to 58.5 cents per mile. As a high-mileage driver the government has been reimbursing me (to use my POV for government business) 19 cents per mile, which is down from the 28.5 cents per mile that was reimbursed last year (while ...more »

  Stop deterring the driver of a POV from trying to travel more inexpensively than can be accomplished with a GOV. A new AAA study shows the cost to own and operate a sedan rose nearly 2 cents a mile to 58.5 cents per mile. As a high-mileage driver the government has been reimbursing me (to use my POV for government business) 19 cents per mile, which is down from the 28.5 cents per mile that was reimbursed last year (while actual costs have gone up). This creates an even greater discrepancy between what agencies (IRS vs. GSA) determine to be the cost of driving (and a greater tax deduction due at years end). I asked the GSA for the study the government used to determine this new and greater incongruity only to be told that the cost method used is confidential and proprietary info. This kind of lack of transparency can’t be good for government innovation or competitiveness. Nor the fact that the government has determined the costs of driving to go both up and down simultaneously -- reimbursing low-mileage drivers at 51 cents, up from 50 cents and the high-mileage drivers at 19 cents, down from 28.5 cents. It would be amazing to learn if GSA can staff and operate their agency; buy vehicles; park; administer; maintain and fix those vehicles; self insure; continuously fill them with $4 per gallon gas; recoup large enough amounts at auction, etc. etc. and in turn justify reimbursing a high-mileage driver just 19 cents to operate their POV instead. The employee required to drive as part of their assignment cannot pay for a private vehicle’s maintenance and repairs, tires, gasoline (including all taxes thereon) and oil for 19 cents per mile! My point is that rather than squeezing the high-mileage driver into requesting a GOV, reimburse them a prudent amount to create huge savings and efficiencies for the US government/taxpayer.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Send the Training to the Trainees -- Not Vice Versa

  I will be part of a large group from the Midwest – many from the same physical location -- that will soon be traveling to CA for training. I am hoping that the idea to send training to the trainees is implemented pronto. Send the trainer, or the training manual on e-reader or DVD, or the video streaming, BUT don't send the masses of employees, please. From a safety standpoint, from a national debt standpoint, from removing ...more »

  I will be part of a large group from the Midwest – many from the same physical location -- that will soon be traveling to CA for training. I am hoping that the idea to send training to the trainees is implemented pronto. Send the trainer, or the training manual on e-reader or DVD, or the video streaming, BUT don't send the masses of employees, please. From a safety standpoint, from a national debt standpoint, from removing essential employees from their jobs for weeks at a time standpoint, from an environmental standpoint, to the public perception standpoint – do it now.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Combine Agencies

  A fantastic way to increase efficiencies is to reduce administrators and doubled/tripled efforts and no efforts due to confused overlap. I work as a regulator in private establishments that are scrutinized by multiple agencies which produces over the top waste. We should not be squandering our limited resources by wondering: does a given responsibility belong to my agency, another agency, multiple agencies, or no agency? ...more »

  A fantastic way to increase efficiencies is to reduce administrators and doubled/tripled efforts and no efforts due to confused overlap. I work as a regulator in private establishments that are scrutinized by multiple agencies which produces over the top waste. We should not be squandering our limited resources by wondering: does a given responsibility belong to my agency, another agency, multiple agencies, or no agency? It is my belief from experience, that more than fifty percent of the fluff in this bloated government can be eliminated. In a welcoming way we can improve results with far less funding – efficiencies the federal government has lagged relative to private industries that cannot print money or utilize unlimited borrowing powers.

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  3 comments for Idea: Combine Agencies

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Dept. of Defense: Defend on US Soils Only

  The United States' Defense Department could be more efficient by only defending the United States within the United States.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Frugality: Allow Money Saving Practices

  Try as one might to save the taxpayer money, sometimes it is not allowed. Often times it appears that spending and/or waste is built into the system. Government spending is often required regardless of need and sometimes regardless of want. Occasionally people (including fellow federal employees) have expressed concern regarding others claiming mileage reimbursement. Recently I asked if I could not claim, read forgo/decline, ...more »

  Try as one might to save the taxpayer money, sometimes it is not allowed. Often times it appears that spending and/or waste is built into the system. Government spending is often required regardless of need and sometimes regardless of want. Occasionally people (including fellow federal employees) have expressed concern regarding others claiming mileage reimbursement. Recently I asked if I could not claim, read forgo/decline, travel reimbursement. The answer is “no”. A ruling called Suffer or Permit to Work disallows not claiming mileage. The following is gleaned from http://www.flsa.com/overtime.html Potential work is actual work if the employer "suffered or permitted" the employee to do it. An employer suffers or permits work if it knows the employee is doing the work (or could have found out by looking), and lets the employee do it. All time spent by an employee performing work-related activities that the employer suffers or permits is work time, whether on premises or not and whether "required" or not.

  Another topic is the requirement to accept individual government laptops in a shared office where computers have been and could continue to be successfully shared, especially when their use is nearly exclusively to check email.

  In summary, my idea, then, is to save where you can find a loophole in the requirements to accept monies and equipment. Happy findings.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Saving Money

  Sorry, this idea was censored for fear that it would save too much money and cause incalculable efficiencies. Please see idea #2653 while the remnants of this post are eliminated.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Reduction of Waste Starts in Our Own Workspace.

  Of the three components of reduce - reuse - recycle; “reducing” (consumption and waste production) is the most effective way to conserve resources and produce less waste. Do you need to order as many supplies from the supply center? Or furthermore do you need to order it at all? I often purchase my own supplies at the dollar store rather than taking Joe and Jill Taxpayer for a ride by ordering minor items from the supply ...more »

  Of the three components of reduce - reuse - recycle; “reducing” (consumption and waste production) is the most effective way to conserve resources and produce less waste. Do you need to order as many supplies from the supply center? Or furthermore do you need to order it at all? I often purchase my own supplies at the dollar store rather than taking Joe and Jill Taxpayer for a ride by ordering minor items from the supply center with their exorbitant packaging and shipping costs -- and who knows the costs the government has incurred to procure each and every little item in the first place. Because I like to walk the talk: other than the small item purchases, I supply my own eco-bulbs, ink for my printer, and use my privately owned vehicle using exclusively E-85 for all government travel, and bike when I can for home to home travel even though I am allowed travel reimbursement (if i were to drive a car). Be more conservative whether or not you classify yourself as a conservative, and trim the excess to help America be more competitive.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Retirement Time

  Stop relying solely on years and/or age for retirement. I cannot determine how many hours that I have to work each week. My job requires me to work between 60 and 84 hours per week, every week depending on need. I cannot elect to work fewer hours. How many hours should a person have to work in order to reach retirement? Others work 40 hours or less per week. Why should the number of years of service be the factor to determine ...more »

  Stop relying solely on years and/or age for retirement. I cannot determine how many hours that I have to work each week. My job requires me to work between 60 and 84 hours per week, every week depending on need. I cannot elect to work fewer hours. How many hours should a person have to work in order to reach retirement? Others work 40 hours or less per week. Why should the number of years of service be the factor to determine when a person reaches retirement rather than the actual amount of real time spent working? Allow a person to reach retirement earlier than is presently the norm based on required hours of service. Efficiencies and effectiveness of the workforce, including health, would improve and costs diminish.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Send Only Requested Supplies/Laboratory Sample Boxes

  Laboratory sample boxes which are expensive to dispatch from labs to inspected facilities and back again are often going back and forth both empty and unnecessarily. There could be better communication among multiple labs (overlap/duplication?) to stop sending cumbersome boxes after a sampling set has been completed. Additionally, I have seen the request and fulfilled obligation to FedEx numerous large boxes from a ...more »

  Laboratory sample boxes which are expensive to dispatch from labs to inspected facilities and back again are often going back and forth both empty and unnecessarily. There could be better communication among multiple labs (overlap/duplication?) to stop sending cumbersome boxes after a sampling set has been completed. Additionally, I have seen the request and fulfilled obligation to FedEx numerous large boxes from a plant where they are no longer needed back to the lab, only to have the lab send the boxes all back to the same plant! Why even send the boxes back to the lab when the boxes could be sent directly from the plant not needing them to a plant that needs them. I believe that only sending requested materials rather than arbitrarily sending supplies could save a ton of money, time, and effort.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Define Bounds of Government by the US Constitution

  What is and what has become "government business"? Trim that which is outside of the parameters of the intended design and purpose of the US government and restore the rights of the people to pursue happiness, live, and have liberty. Many have come to realize the multiple burdensome costs of slipping from constitutionality. Funding cowboy poetry or abortions does not form a more perfect Union or promote the general Welfare ...more »

  What is and what has become "government business"? Trim that which is outside of the parameters of the intended design and purpose of the US government and restore the rights of the people to pursue happiness, live, and have liberty. Many have come to realize the multiple burdensome costs of slipping from constitutionality. Funding cowboy poetry or abortions does not form a more perfect Union or promote the general Welfare or secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity in an indebted nation.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Increasing Trade, Exports, and Overall Competitiveness »

  Unattained Human Capital

  Since 1995, US State Department records indicate that international adoptions by Americans had increased more than 140 percent. Couples often cited the lack of American babies as the reason for adopting from abroad. The above is from the article Born in America, adopted abroad; found at http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1027/p11s01-lifp.html We are violating our US Constitution by killing humans in the womb. The infringement ...more »

  Since 1995, US State Department records indicate that international adoptions by Americans had increased more than 140 percent. Couples often cited the lack of American babies as the reason for adopting from abroad. The above is from the article Born in America, adopted abroad; found at http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1027/p11s01-lifp.html

  We are violating our US Constitution by killing humans in the womb. The infringement on life has led to manifold deficits in USA including unrealized human capital. The dead cannot compete. I suggest we restore protection of the right to life for all in society which includes the unborn.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Adopt more of the ideas submitted to the 2010 SAVE initiative.

  Revisit and adopt more of the 18,000 plus ideas submitted in the 2010 SAVE Award campaign. Multiple blogs and idea submitting plans under different titles such as Cultural Transformation, Cost Savings, SAVE Award, etc. are good ideas for gathering good ideas, but create additional areas of overlap and duplication within our government.

  6 comments for Idea: Adopt more of the ideas submitted to the 2010 SAVE initiative.

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Provide option for bicycle use reimbursements.

  Save travel costs, energy costs, and increase health of federal employees by providing the option for low-cost non-motorized transportation reimbursements rather than only providing the current high cost motorized vehicle use rates. If, as an example, just a couple percent of federal employees would use bicycles that could be reimbursed at 10 cents per mile instead of 50 cents/mile for automobile use – much would be saved ...more »

  Save travel costs, energy costs, and increase health of federal employees by providing the option for low-cost non-motorized transportation reimbursements rather than only providing the current high cost motorized vehicle use rates. If, as an example, just a couple percent of federal employees would use bicycles that could be reimbursed at 10 cents per mile instead of 50 cents/mile for automobile use – much would be saved annually in various monetary/environmental/energy/sedentary costs associated with exclusive motorized vehicle usage. Those employees that are eligible for patrol assignment home to home reimbursements have a good opportunity to benefit the taxpayer (including self) and the environment by using non-motorized transport between home and duty station.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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