White House asks for money-saving tips
NASA lending libraries? A digital Federal Register? The Obama administration is asking for more ideas to save a little money for the government.
The White House is turning again to federal employees for ways to save money for the government and chip a little more money off its spending.
To do so, they're bringing back the Securing Americans Value and Efficiency (SAVE) Award. Submissions are due by July 24.
The Obama administration wants ideas on making the government efficient. After submissions and votes by other federal employees, officials will narrow down four winning ideas. Then, the vote goes to the American people—online.
In the end, the winner will personally present the idea to President Barack Obama.
Last year, the winning proposal was based on a “lending library” at NASA to store and catalog specialize tools and other equipment. A previous winning idea included stopping shipments of the printed Federal Register, asking its users to read the daily book online instead.
Vice President Joe Biden included a sobering message in his e-mail about the awards.
“Folks, we know that these ideas alone aren’t going to eliminate the deficit or fix our fiscal situation,” he wrote. However, he added, the SAVE Award bolsters the impression of the government on the people.
The ideas “are critical to making sure the American people can trust their government to spend their tax dollars wisely—and to make sure that we are directing resources to the investments that will create good jobs and grow the economy,” he added.