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dot/faa

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washington

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  Civil Service Academy - Create one

  Appointments can be made to military academies, why not establish a virtual Civil Service Academy, providing four year scholarships, in return for four years of service. The campus would be virtual, in that the scholarships would be to any qualified university, and in return the students would be required to do internships each summer at a federal agency, and their four commitment upon graduation. These would be full ...more »

  Appointments can be made to military academies, why not establish a virtual Civil Service Academy, providing four year scholarships, in return for four years of service. The campus would be virtual, in that the scholarships would be to any qualified university, and in return the students would be required to do internships each summer at a federal agency, and their four commitment upon graduation. These would be full scholarships covering tution and board and room at selected schools.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Increasing Trade, Exports, and Overall Competitiveness »

  Value Added Tax

  Eliminate the Income Tax and replace it with a VAT, that taxes consumption. That would encource investment and savings, and eliminate all of the special interest loop holes built in the current tax code, thereby promoting more rationale economic choices and making the USA more competitive in the global market.....also make US goods more attractive for the domestic market....as there would be less rationale for companies ...more »

  Eliminate the Income Tax and replace it with a VAT, that taxes consumption. That would encource investment and savings, and eliminate all of the special interest loop holes built in the current tax code, thereby promoting more rationale economic choices and making the USA more competitive in the global market.....also make US goods more attractive for the domestic market....as there would be less rationale for companies to move production off shore.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Contractor Conflict of Interest - Limit Revolving Door

  There are supposed to be limits on "retired" Feds going to work for Contractors, with whom they had influence/oversight prior to retiring. However in practice these rules are so narrowly interpreted that we see Feds leaving on a friday and popping back up on a monday with a contractor badge. There seems to be no end to this practice, if they aren't coming back to interface directly with the agency, then they often get ...more »

  There are supposed to be limits on "retired" Feds going to work for Contractors, with whom they had influence/oversight prior to retiring. However in practice these rules are so narrowly interpreted that we see Feds leaving on a friday and popping back up on a monday with a contractor badge. There seems to be no end to this practice, if they aren't coming back to interface directly with the agency, then they often get a VP job as a reward for helping to push their case earlier. This whole area needs to be tightened up, they shouldn't be allowed to go to work for any company that has any contracts with their previous agency. While most federal follow the rules, the practices of these few is costing the government untold millions.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  One Idea Pool

  Several Agencies have similar online tools for submitting ideas. The DOT for example has an "Idea Hub", for which they established an entire program office and furthermore are burdening the managers having to write responses to every "idea". Believe it would be a lot more efficient to eliminate these individual sites, and focus on one central site.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Libya - Another Knee Jerk Reaction

  Why is it that every time there is some sort of "crisis", that we have to get involved? While going through the international community, is a step forward....when did Libya become critical for the US? Why do we do it, must be because we have a lot of military assets. It is time to trim back on these open ended military adventures....yeah we all feel sorry for these poor people in Libya, but we are going bankrupt and ...more »

  Why is it that every time there is some sort of "crisis", that we have to get involved? While going through the international community, is a step forward....when did Libya become critical for the US? Why do we do it, must be because we have a lot of military assets. It is time to trim back on these open ended military adventures....yeah we all feel sorry for these poor people in Libya, but we are going bankrupt and spreading ourselves too thin....STOP NOW, and lets use our resources for something more productive here at home.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Medicare - OPT out

  As a fed I have great medical coverage, and I don't have a problem with paying the Medicare (poor tax), but I would really like to have the ability to opt out of Medicare when I turn 65; too much additional paper work for everyone, not to mention having to change doctors, etc.. I don't know, if this would save the government any money, but it would surely be a savings in reducing the paper work.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Limit Food Stamps

  I heard a story recently, regarding some immigrants. They have been here about 10 years, retired and are now drawing social security.........and getting food stamps. How is it that the tax payers have to bear the burden for this, when the sponsors of immigrants have to declare that they (the sponsors) have the means to support them so they don't become a burden to the tax payers. ICE needs to work more closely with ...more »

  I heard a story recently, regarding some immigrants. They have been here about 10 years, retired and are now drawing social security.........and getting food stamps. How is it that the tax payers have to bear the burden for this, when the sponsors of immigrants have to declare that they (the sponsors) have the means to support them so they don't become a burden to the tax payers. ICE needs to work more closely with the Agriculture to root out abuses like this. One solution, might be to require that the sponsors, put up a bond or agree to a lien against their house, if they have one, but too many are getting a free ride at the expense of the rest of us.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Close overseas military bases & cut foreign aid

  What did I hear on the news recently...600+ military installations outside the US....why? And a dozen carrier groups....why? We have done more than our share of rebuilding the world, it is time we put those dollars to work here in the USA.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Desk Top Support - Who Needs It?

  Currently we are in the midst of a technology refresh cycle; seems like for every step forward we are taking two back. I don't believe that our help desk can keep up with the changing technology; and with everything being "locked" down we can't even help ourselves. So why not take the next step...and totally dumb down the desk tops....a monitor and a simple box, with no input/output devices. Web enable everything or ...more »

  Currently we are in the midst of a technology refresh cycle; seems like for every step forward we are taking two back. I don't believe that our help desk can keep up with the changing technology; and with everything being "locked" down we can't even help ourselves. So why not take the next step...and totally dumb down the desk tops....a monitor and a simple box, with no input/output devices. Web enable everything or at least keep the copies of the software, MSoffice, apps, on the servers, in the cloud, etc. and let the apps run locally but direct all output to shared drives, printers, common storage, etc. And any data input from outside, would go through the new help desk to ensure it was virus free. This would save on equipment, help desk labor, and provide tighter security against the introduction of trojans, etc.. An additional benefit, it would add another layer to thwart, the leakage of sensative data.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Shock and Awe

  The free spending bureacrats need a wake up call and the only way to do that is to cut the positions, not a furlow. Rather cut the number of positions by 10, 20, or 30% & cut the pay for those managers making over six figures to bring them back down to 2000 levels, if they can't meet mission requirements.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  SES Reform

  The SES needs to be reformed. Initially the concept was that the holders of these positions could be moved around in government, where ever there was a need. However in practice, for the most part they become entrenched in an agency....for the duration of their career. This often impacts their view of things...it becomes personal....too much bonding with the staff, and empire building. The SES core needs to be more ...more »

  The SES needs to be reformed. Initially the concept was that the holders of these positions could be moved around in government, where ever there was a need. However in practice, for the most part they become entrenched in an agency....for the duration of their career. This often impacts their view of things...it becomes personal....too much bonding with the staff, and empire building. The SES core needs to be more objective in the execution of their duties; a more hard nosed approach regarding budget, mission, and best practices would definately benefit the nation and save billions of dollars. Lets start this, by making it mandatory that all SES either rotate out of their position (go to another agency), or be forced to fall back to a lower level position (and less pay) every couple of years.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Hire American Workers First

  Why is it that we have so many foreign nationals (H1B) employeed by the government as contractors. Our tax dollars are being used to bring in foreign nationals, absurd.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Return unused year end funds to the Treasury

  Too often agency officials regard year end funds as their personal slush funds, from which they can buy any goodies they would like. The OMB needs to track these much more closely, and when it finds abuse of these funds, not only claw back the misused funds, but reduce the next year's budget for that agency by double that amount.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Flat Tax

  Simplify the Tax code, the government is involved with too many hare-brained schemes trying to goose the economy. Examples setting up Freddie Mac / Fannie May, and the mortgage interest deduction, etc. Let the free market run its course, the only government involvement should be that of watch dog to check for fraud, etc., other than that hands off is the best approach. One set tax rate for all....no deductions would ...more »

  Simplify the Tax code, the government is involved with too many hare-brained schemes trying to goose the economy. Examples setting up Freddie Mac / Fannie May, and the mortgage interest deduction, etc. Let the free market run its course, the only government involvement should be that of watch dog to check for fraud, etc., other than that hands off is the best approach. One set tax rate for all....no deductions would be the best approach

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Consolidate Regulations and Reports for Exports

  Currently companies must comply with numerous regulations and reporting requirements to export goods. Simplify these so that companies need only to report to a single government entity and if need be suffer an inspection by only a single government entity. If a violation were found, then those findings might be refered to the agency with the subject matter expertise to resolve the issue.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Increasing Overall Competitiveness

  Stop spending so much money on non essential bureacratic overhead. Where else but in Washington DC are there clerks (finance, personnel, etc.) making six figure salaries.........we are talking staff here, not management...it is absolutely obscene that people in these positions make four to six times as much as private industry emloyees located a few hours away. Cut their pay in half, and it would still be too high; cut ...more »

  Stop spending so much money on non essential bureacratic overhead. Where else but in Washington DC are there clerks (finance, personnel, etc.) making six figure salaries.........we are talking staff here, not management...it is absolutely obscene that people in these positions make four to six times as much as private industry emloyees located a few hours away. Cut their pay in half, and it would still be too high; cut it by 3/4 and there would be no problem filling those jobs. Take the savings, lower taxes, and that is how to make American products more competitive.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Technical Envy

  Who is the best customer for the software, hardware, and IT services vendors.............the agencies located in the Washington, D.C. area. Amazing but every year there is a FOSE event, that draws 1000's of government employees eager to see the latest gadgets. Let me see this looks really cool, lets buy it now, and figure out what to do with it later. Get these people out of Washington, D.C., they can't help themselves..........but ...more »

  Who is the best customer for the software, hardware, and IT services vendors.............the agencies located in the Washington, D.C. area. Amazing but every year there is a FOSE event, that draws 1000's of government employees eager to see the latest gadgets. Let me see this looks really cool, lets buy it now, and figure out what to do with it later. Get these people out of Washington, D.C., they can't help themselves..........but the overall cost for technical gadgets would sure be a lot less, if some of these so call essential functions were moved out of the DC area.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Consolidate Regional Offices

  There are way too much duplication of management functions within the FAA. While the FAA has done some consolidation (FSS), there remains a duplication in many other areas....a HQ office, then service areas, and under then the old regional offices...seems like the FAA is always reorganizing to save money, but the number of positions and grade levels always increase. Lets get real............bring in an outside group ...more »

  There are way too much duplication of management functions within the FAA. While the FAA has done some consolidation (FSS), there remains a duplication in many other areas....a HQ office, then service areas, and under then the old regional offices...seems like the FAA is always reorganizing to save money, but the number of positions and grade levels always increase. Lets get real............bring in an outside group to draw up a reorganization plan and then have them implement it....does anyone seriously think that the FAA managers are going to gore themselves? Seems like they spend more time, pulling the wool over the eyes of their political appointees and congress, then doing the job they were tasked to do.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Consolidate IT Services

  The DOT/FAA recently held a conference in Orlando, Florida. Everyone had a great time, a week away from any real work, but you had to wonder why there were so many FAA workers there (gov & contractor)? What is the number of Feds in the FAA 50,000? How many Feds and contractors supporting IT, seems like probably at least twice that. About time to consolidate IT services at the FAA, and put more controllers in the towers. ...more »

  The DOT/FAA recently held a conference in Orlando, Florida. Everyone had a great time, a week away from any real work, but you had to wonder why there were so many FAA workers there (gov & contractor)? What is the number of Feds in the FAA 50,000? How many Feds and contractors supporting IT, seems like probably at least twice that. About time to consolidate IT services at the FAA, and put more controllers in the towers.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Top Heavy Organizations

  Too many high level positions have been and continue to be created, with little to no oversight regarding their need. The primary mission of some agencies seems to be how many of our friends can we move into high level positions and not how best to get the mission accomplished. The only way to cure that is to specifically CUT the allocation of high level positions...meaning GS13 and above. No grandfathering, etc. to be ...more »

  Too many high level positions have been and continue to be created, with little to no oversight regarding their need. The primary mission of some agencies seems to be how many of our friends can we move into high level positions and not how best to get the mission accomplished. The only way to cure that is to specifically CUT the allocation of high level positions...meaning GS13 and above. No grandfathering, etc. to be allowed, and limit save pay to ONE YEAR.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Eliminate Pay for Performance

  It doesn't work, consumes too much time trying to measure, and doesn't promote team work. If money is your primary reason for working for the government, just leave and get a job outside of government.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Pay Scale Adjustment

  The gap between the low end of the pay scale and the high end, has increased with every "cost of living" increase. It is time to bring the pay scale back into balance with the work performed. Provide a "full" increase to those at the lower end, and reduce that as you move up the scale to zero at those making over six figures (I make over six figures). The primary motivation in working for the government, should be service............not ...more »

  The gap between the low end of the pay scale and the high end, has increased with every "cost of living" increase. It is time to bring the pay scale back into balance with the work performed. Provide a "full" increase to those at the lower end, and reduce that as you move up the scale to zero at those making over six figures (I make over six figures). The primary motivation in working for the government, should be service............not money. If you want or need to make a lot of money, leave the government and go to private industry.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Reduce size of federal & contractor work force

  There has been an amazing increase in grade levels, over the years; that is unjustified by the duties assigned. Examples: (1) Too often needed positions are created, to take care of friends and to empire build.....when the work simply isn't there. This is very prevalent in agencies , where there is little accountability for the money spent. (2) Often we here in the government are our "customer", makes no sense to let ...more »

  There has been an amazing increase in grade levels, over the years; that is unjustified by the duties assigned. Examples: (1) Too often needed positions are created, to take care of friends and to empire build.....when the work simply isn't there. This is very prevalent in agencies , where there is little accountability for the money spent. (2) Often we here in the government are our "customer", makes no sense to let internal staff run amuck gold plating IT systems, etc., when there is little benefit to the overall mission, (3) Too many feds and contractors going back and forth between groups....hard to tell...fed one day contractor next day and vice a versa....but one then is sure each move costs the government money...little to no accountability regarding the ethics of these practices. LETS look deeper for saves, rather than blanked pay freezes....those are easy, but they don't solve the real problems of grade creep and feather bedding, prevalent in so many agencies. It really makes me sick, to see the changes in the last 10-15 years....way too much me...and not enough focus on the service in the Civil Service.

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