Member since 2 years ago
3 ideas posted
0 comments 151 votes
5 votes
Require all new government buildings to be LEED certified. It might be more expensive in the short run, but the construction costs should help to stimulate the economy and it would be a way for the government to invest in environmentally friendly technology and get something out of it. Plus these buildings should be much more efficient, lowering operating costs and saving money in the long run.
22 votes
How many American citizens take the time to read the bills that Congress passes? Now, how many Congressmen and women actually read the bills they are voting on? I don't know exact figures but when Congress is trying to pass an 800+ page bill, my guess is that very few if any of them have actually read the whole thing. My solution: a maximum page limit for bills. I recommend setting the limit fairly low, about 20 to ...more »
How many American citizens take the time to read the bills that Congress passes? Now, how many Congressmen and women actually read the bills they are voting on? I don't know exact figures but when Congress is trying to pass an 800+ page bill, my guess is that very few if any of them have actually read the whole thing. My solution: a maximum page limit for bills. I recommend setting the limit fairly low, about 20 to 30 pages. The effect? Bills should focus on doing a single thing. They will be short enough for the people voting to actually read them and since the bill only does a single thing it should be a relatively simple choice to vote on it. Furthermore, bills would have to be written in a concise manner to fit within the page limit. Being more concise will make the bills much easier to read. The page limit should keep other stuff (pork) from being stuck in bills and even if it is tried, the bill will be short enough and easy enough to read that it would be quickly spotted. Additionally, if bills do one thing, Congress can focus on one thing at a time rather than trying to balance various parts of a bill to get enough people to vote for it. This should result in a higher bill turnover rate and hopefully prevent Congress from getting bogged down on a single bill.
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11 votes
Where I work, we used to have a networked timesheet program until it was replaced in favor of interactive PDFs that are often printed and then manually entered into the payroll system. Not only would a web app be a great way of storing the data electronically in an easily accessible way for records management, but we could save a lot of ink, paper and wear on the printers by not having to print all our timesheets. Plus ...more »
Where I work, we used to have a networked timesheet program until it was replaced in favor of interactive PDFs that are often printed and then manually entered into the payroll system. Not only would a web app be a great way of storing the data electronically in an easily accessible way for records management, but we could save a lot of ink, paper and wear on the printers by not having to print all our timesheets. Plus having a person manually enter all the information into the payroll system is a huge waste of a person's time and it increases the likelihood of something being entered incorrectly which would end up being a hassle for a bunch of people. The only half way valid reason I have been given as to the move to the PDFs is that they can be signed with a digital signature. So lets take a look at the alternative...
We could have an easy to use web application that can store all previous timesheet data for records management and send all of its data directly to the payroll system without requiring any human intervention after it is approved by your timekeeper. Its all electronic so no ink or paper is needed and no one has to sit and manually enter a hundred timesheets into a computer every pay period. As far as making it legally binding, have a nice little message above the submit button saying something to the effect of "By clicking 'Submit' you confirm that the above information is accurate...." If that isn't sufficient, find a way to digitally sign the timesheet using browser PKIs.
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