Feds offer White House plenty of ideas on budget-cutting

When it comes to cutting costs within federal government, it turns out that federal employees themselves may have an idea or two about fiscal pruning. A Web site launched last week by the White House that solicits money-saving ideas from federal workers has already reaped 10,266 submissions, according to an announcement from Peter R. Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget.

OMB set up Save.Gov last month to be the home for Securing Americans Value and Efficiency , a contest for federal employees to submit ideas on how to save money in the fiscal 2011 federal budget.

President Obama has asked OMB to perform a line-by-line review of the 2011 budget, in order to cut out as much as $17 billion. OMB is hoping that federal employees can identity some areas within their own agencies where spending could be trimmed. The fed with the best idea will get to meet the president and have his or her idea incorporated into the budget. The agency with the highest participation rate will also be recognized when the winner is announced in November.

Thus far, OMB has not disclosed any of the entries, so there is no telling how many are genuinely innovative, and how many are more along the lines of "fire my boss." But all submissions must display an economy of expression: The form for submitting an idea is limited to 1,000 characters, or about 150-200 words.

The deadline for submitting an idea is Oct. 14.