Community Member

Member since 2 years ago

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18 ideas posted

111 comments 44 votes

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Department/Agency:

VA

City:

Leavenworth

Ideas contributed by Community Member

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  11 votes

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  Increasing Trade, Exports, and Overall Competitiveness »

  Utilize Genealogists to index and Scan Federal Records

  The government should utilize Genealogists to Index and Scan federal records to clear up records holding space and to put more federal records online for Genealogical researchers. You charge a fee for each record and increase government revenues instead of letting old records languish in storage and records holding centers. You could actually turn those old records into money. One of my favorite genealgists is www.ancestorexplorer.com ...more »

  The government should utilize Genealogists to Index and Scan federal records to clear up records holding space and to put more federal records online for Genealogical researchers. You charge a fee for each record and increase government revenues instead of letting old records languish in storage and records holding centers. You could actually turn those old records into money. One of my favorite genealgists is www.ancestorexplorer.com great little veteran owned company and would be a great source for this type of project

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  16 votes

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  Open All Federal Jobs to all US Citizens

  All jobs posted on USAJOBS should be open to every single United States citizens. Never should it be open only to Agency employees only. This is a HUGE waste of time and taxpayer money. No one should be excluded from applying for a job simply because they are not with that agency. This practice needs to stop so that all have a fair chance of applying for a job.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  32 votes

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  Create Investigate wing of VA to look for Disability fraud

  The VA needs to create an investigate banch to investigate disability fraud. There are veterans out there who are getting disability checks for injuries and I know for a fact are not disabled. After getting out of the service their back suddenly healed and they were hauling rocks, digging up trees, mowing the law, playing basketball, running, and lifting weights. Lots of activity for someone with a hurt back and getting ...more »

  The VA needs to create an investigate banch to investigate disability fraud. There are veterans out there who are getting disability checks for injuries and I know for a fact are not disabled. After getting out of the service their back suddenly healed and they were hauling rocks, digging up trees, mowing the law, playing basketball, running, and lifting weights. Lots of activity for someone with a hurt back and getting a disability check every month from the government and the tax payer. People who are receiving disability checks need to be surveiled, watched, recorded and reported if they are found to be liars. They should have to repay every single penny they were ever given and spend some time in jail and have to register. I'm sure this would save the government several million dollars each year.

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  13 comments for Idea: Create Investigate wing of VA to look for Disability fraud

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  33 votes

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  Stop Mowing when the grass hasn't grown

  Right now a contracted person is mowing our lawn but yet the grass doesn't need to be cut. A big waste of money right there.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  30 votes

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  Enhance Border patrol with National Guard to secure borders

  We should utilize our national guard and army reserves to help secure our nations borders. This could stop illegals from crossing, enhance training opportunities for our sevicemen and women and encourage those south of the border to stay in their own country. Plus the 2 weeks each unit spends on active duty each year could rotate in an out of these areas for security training and common skills training.

  3 comments for Idea: Enhance Border patrol with National Guard to secure borders

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  73 votes

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  Increasing Trade, Exports, and Overall Competitiveness »

  Require Pell Grants to be repaid if a student drops out / Fails

  If a student drops out of college after receiving a Pell Grant then they should have to repay that grant to the government. Or if they fail after a semester of using a Pell Grant they should have to repay it. It should come with stiuplations. The potential savings could be in the Millions of dollars. We shouldn't be paying for failure.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  32 votes

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  Require Drug Testing of College Students using Pell Grants

  This program would then determine if students are using government funds to purchase illegal drugs while going to college. This should be instituted as soon as possible.

  1 comment for Idea: Require Drug Testing of College Students using Pell Grants

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  13 votes

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  Require Enlisted Military Personnel to attend college

  This is a great national service plan and we should encourage and require our young enlisted personnel to attend college so that when they leave the military they will have a head start on their education or maybe even a full blown college degree by the time they exit the military. This would allow them to use their GI Bill for a Masters Degree or Phd. This would certainly be a great use of time for soldiers, sailors, ...more »

  This is a great national service plan and we should encourage and require our young enlisted personnel to attend college so that when they leave the military they will have a head start on their education or maybe even a full blown college degree by the time they exit the military. This would allow them to use their GI Bill for a Masters Degree or Phd. This would certainly be a great use of time for soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen in the evevnings after they are off duty. Plus this will allow them more opportunities for promotion while serving their country.

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  7 comments for Idea: Require Enlisted Military Personnel to attend college

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  65 votes

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  End Subsidies to all businesses in America

  There is no reason for any business to be subsidized by the american tax payer. We live in a Free Market economy and therefore business will either suceed or fail based on the needs of the consumer. Imagine the Billions of dollars this would free up for debt reduction or tax reduction.

  2 comments for Idea: End Subsidies to all businesses in America

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  17 votes

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  Ideas to Make Other Parts of Government More Efficient and Effective »

  Encourage use of National Parks

  Encourage Americans to use national parks more to increase revenues and to keep american money here at home during this economic crisis. Enhancing the knowledge and use of our outdoor spaces is imperative to incorporating good use principles into our daily lives and this would in turn provide a foundation of knowledge about outdoor spaces and the ability to be sustainable in our own lives. Encouraging recycling and ...more »

  Encourage Americans to use national parks more to increase revenues and to keep american money here at home during this economic crisis. Enhancing the knowledge and use of our outdoor spaces is imperative to incorporating good use principles into our daily lives and this would in turn provide a foundation of knowledge about outdoor spaces and the ability to be sustainable in our own lives. Encouraging recycling and composting in our own lives would in turn reduce waste in our local landfills and also provide americans a better understanding that if we conserve our resources there will be resources for our children and grand children.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  93 votes

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  End Farm Subsidies

  The government needs to end farm subsidies. Why should you pay someone NOT to farm? It's like the USDA is one big fat welfare agency paying farmers to let their lie fallow. I would imagine this could save millions of dollars a year. Let those farmers farm whatever they want to farm. This is a free market economy and we shouldn't be spending tax payer money to someone to not do a job. What kind of sense does that ...more »

  The government needs to end farm subsidies. Why should you pay someone NOT to farm? It's like the USDA is one big fat welfare agency paying farmers to let their lie fallow. I would imagine this could save millions of dollars a year. Let those farmers farm whatever they want to farm. This is a free market economy and we shouldn't be spending tax payer money to someone to not do a job. What kind of sense does that make?

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  1 comment for Idea: End Farm Subsidies

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  7 votes

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  VA - Integrate VISTA so I can print to PDF

  It would be nice if employees who work for the VA can print to PDF from VISTA so i don't have to print out any more increases / decreases and then take the time to scan and upload these when I could print to PDF and directly upload these. As it stands now I'm printing several pages at a time, wasting money, when a little computer engineering could provide potential savings to the taxpayer.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  15 votes

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  Require Vendors to Submit all Bids electronically

  We should require all vendors to submit all bids and signed contracts electronically. This way there is no paper to print, no paper to scan and no paper to throw away. Everything gets done electronically and loaded into eCMS without ever hitting the print button except for the signature page. I'm not sure of the savings but it would be big enough that it would save the Tax Payers money and the employee time. It's ...more »

  We should require all vendors to submit all bids and signed contracts electronically. This way there is no paper to print, no paper to scan and no paper to throw away. Everything gets done electronically and loaded into eCMS without ever hitting the print button except for the signature page. I'm not sure of the savings but it would be big enough that it would save the Tax Payers money and the employee time. It's a win-win for everyone including the vendor.

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  1 comment for Idea: Require Vendors to Submit all Bids electronically

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

• I agree

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  167 votes

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  Stop Military Flyovers at Sporting Events

  Why are we wasting money, time, resources and Fuel costs for using Military aircraft to fly over sporting events? This is a HUGE waste of tax payer funds. This practice should be stopped. These aircraft should only be used for the purpose that they were designed, built and paid for. Not for jaunts over an athletic event to excite the crowd. This is a big waste of money and I'm sure the funds could be spent better ...more »

  Why are we wasting money, time, resources and Fuel costs for using Military aircraft to fly over sporting events? This is a HUGE waste of tax payer funds. This practice should be stopped. These aircraft should only be used for the purpose that they were designed, built and paid for. Not for jaunts over an athletic event to excite the crowd. This is a big waste of money and I'm sure the funds could be spent better elsewhere or even returned to the treasury as they are nothing but wasted money.

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  24 comments for Idea: Stop Military Flyovers at Sporting Events

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  206 votes

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  Hire instead of using Contract Employees

  The government should encourage Hiring employees instead of using contract employees at the VA. Being a contracting officer I know for a fact we waste Millions of dollars a year on contracting instead of just hiring. Maybe it's time to look at hiring bonuses or actually implementing student loan repayment for all essential personnel within the government to encourage hiring permanent employees instead of contract employees. ...more »

  The government should encourage Hiring employees instead of using contract employees at the VA. Being a contracting officer I know for a fact we waste Millions of dollars a year on contracting instead of just hiring. Maybe it's time to look at hiring bonuses or actually implementing student loan repayment for all essential personnel within the government to encourage hiring permanent employees instead of contract employees. The potential savings could be realized in the first month after implementation.

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  10 comments for Idea: Hire instead of using Contract Employees

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  210 votes

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  Stop Disability payments for those working full time

  There are several employees who are working for the VA who are also receiving a disablity check from the VA every month. Why should an employee who can work a full time job at a GS11 or GS12 received a disability payment from the VA? These employees are not disabled and shouldn't be recieving a government welfare check every month for being able to work a full time job. This is a huge amount of money being wasted. ...more »

  There are several employees who are working for the VA who are also receiving a disablity check from the VA every month. Why should an employee who can work a full time job at a GS11 or GS12 received a disability payment from the VA? These employees are not disabled and shouldn't be recieving a government welfare check every month for being able to work a full time job. This is a huge amount of money being wasted. I think the Congress needs to fix this loophole in the law and correct this. Certainly this could save several millions of dollars a year

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  101 comments for Idea: Stop Disability payments for those working full time

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  321 votes

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  Elimninate End of Year Spending

  This should be eliminted. Encourage agencies to return this money to the treasury. Certainly this would save the taxpayers BILLIONS of dollars per year. Why aren't there incentives for agencies to return that money? This would certainly be a much better use of tax payer funds than just spending it because we fear not getting the same amount next year. If an agency doesn't need the money then they should have to return ...more »

  This should be eliminted. Encourage agencies to return this money to the treasury. Certainly this would save the taxpayers BILLIONS of dollars per year. Why aren't there incentives for agencies to return that money? This would certainly be a much better use of tax payer funds than just spending it because we fear not getting the same amount next year. If an agency doesn't need the money then they should have to return it and not expect to have to have to spend it out of fear of not getting the same amount again for the next budget cycle.

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  30 comments for Idea: Elimninate End of Year Spending

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  137 votes

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  Telework for all Eligible Employees

  I think having Telework for all elgibile employees would be a very valuable thing. our office just split into 2 parts. We have leased a building for the next 5 years and had to contract to have that spaced revamped into a useable office space. So we had to have a new building, new computers, new offices, new printers, new monitors, New Phones, plus the cost of upkeep and repair. I really have no idea how much this ...more »

  I think having Telework for all elgibile employees would be a very valuable thing. our office just split into 2 parts. We have leased a building for the next 5 years and had to contract to have that spaced revamped into a useable office space. So we had to have a new building, new computers, new offices, new printers, new monitors, New Phones, plus the cost of upkeep and repair. I really have no idea how much this cost but certainly rotating shifts and telework would have been a more costs effecitve way to save money and encourage working from home? After all the VA is supposedly about work-life balance. But all we hear is how bad telework is and how the boss can't track you work or what you're doing. Well that is a big fat lie because with eCMS they can see that we're logged in and with reports they run they know what kind of work we're doing. It would have been much more cost effective to give us all laptops to work from home than spending millions on a new builiding and renovations.

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  14 comments for Idea: Telework for all Eligible Employees

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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