September 23, 2009
Obama wants your suggestions on how to save money in FY11

Posted at 6:27 pm, in: Spending
Tags: Barack Obama, Janet Napolitano

It seems that the President, who seemingly can’t spend enough, would like to make some cut backs. Secretary Napolitano has announced that they have launched a new website to collect ideas for how DHS can trim costs and save taxpayer dollars:

In March, we announced one of the boldest and most far-reaching initiatives to improve efficiency and increase transparency in the federal government, capturing the attention of the President and the White House.

We are already seeing millions of dollars in savings and cost avoidances from DHS Efficiency Review initiatives, such as consolidating thousands of software licenses into one, posting and distributing publications online instead of printing them, and moving events and conferences to government buildings from private facilities, among many others.

Now, the President wants to hear from you personally about your Efficiency Review ideas for how DHS can trim even more costs and save even more taxpayer dollars.

Today, we’re launching the President’s SAVE Award, which encourages federal employees to submit ideas for efficiencies and savings as part of the annual Budget process.

Submit your idea online at www.SaveAward.gov and it could become part of next year’s budget. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, October 14th.

The winner will have the opportunity to visit the White House, meet President Obama, and have his or her Efficiency Review initiative incorporated into the FY 2011 Budget.

Thank you for your efforts — you have truly made DHS a model for government reform.

Yours very truly,

Janet Napolitano
Secretary

I think this is a great idea and I am even going to make a submission. It’s an opportunity to meet President Obama. You don’t just let something like that pass you by. And, I have an excellent idea on how to save a lot of money because I’m pretty sure that what I’m about to tell you is not unique to one organization or department and is a pretty common practice government wide.

Fiscal Year 2009 (FY09) is coming to an end and we are in “spend-down” mode. What is spend-down, you ask? Well, if you weren’t angry about government spending before, you’re probably going to get angry, now. You might want to grab your stress ball for this.

Every year every office/department/organization proposes a budget. Now, let’s say I propose that my budget be $20,000 and that I am authorized that money. So, I have $20,000 to spend throughout the fiscal year on anything I might need for the office. Let’s just say, though, that I am very thrifty and am able to only spend $10,000 during the fiscal year. If I don’t spend that extra $10,000 by the end of the fiscal year, September 30, then I will only get what I did spend in the next fiscal year. So, no matter how much I ask for or actually need, I’ll only get the $10,000 since that’s all I needed last year and I didn’t use my entire budget. In addition, any left over monies from my budget will be taken away and distributed elsewhere.

The thing is, I might need more money next fiscal year, for whatever reason. I know if I don’t spend a full $20,000, though, I will have no hopes of achieving what I am supposed to achieve in the next year. This is when spend-down occurs. Spend-down is the term used in the month of September when all offices, agencies, and departments start to spend any and all money left in their budget in order to ensure they don’t get effed in next year’s budget. On the last working day of the month is when all hell breaks loose with purchase requests being completed and submitted up until the last possible moment.

This is a systemic problem that rewards useless spending and waste while punishing savings and thrift. I’m sure that is not the intention, but that is the result. Do you know how much money is wasted this way? Do you know how many things are bought in the month of September that would never be authorized at any other time during the fiscal year? Do you know how many offices have large, flat screen televisions mounted on their walls with no real reason or justification but as a result of spend-down? A lot!

The month of September is when everyone’s Christmas lists come out and the most frivolous items that they can afford are bought. And you thought Christmas only came in July and December. In government, the Christmas season is now: September!

I’m still working on the solution to this problem, but rewarding savings and thrift would be a good start. For all of the talk in Congress about bonuses, there are plenty handed out to government employees. Admittedly, not the size of those in the financial sector, but they’re still there. Perhaps we can give cash awards to managers that come in under budget. Just a start off the top of my head.

I encourage all of you to submit your ideas of how they can save money in FY11. Even if you don’t work for the government, I’m sure you have some proposals on how they could save. For example, maybe if they stopped trying to create entitlement programs like they are currently trying to do with health care. Apparently that solution hasn’t dawned on them, yet, so we should give them a little help.

Another great idea might be to let some of Obama’s czars “point-people” go? I think there’s like 36 plus, at this point. Being paid over $125 grand a year. So, that’s a potential savings of $4.5 million. See how much fun this could be! Now, you give it a shot.