Our government is meant to be for the people and of the people. Simplicity works very well. I am not a computer savvy person and find it very hard to get information on my government’s activities (listing of “pork” placed in proposed legislation, a direct link and input on a specific governmental agency complaints and immediate results acted on by our government should be posted. The works of our governemnt should not be hidden. More accountability and oversight by the people would be beneficial to our democracy. It is very apparent that we cannot rely on our elected representatives. A monthly listing should be posted of all lobby groups and persons that have contacted elected official would be nice. Removal of corporate money and greed from our representatives would provide a much better government. I feel that these list would be a very informative dialogue. Our voices will be heard and sent to those who are not adhering to representation of their constituents concerns, etc.

Like previously mentioned about, there needs to be structure and organization to this site.

Also, if this site is going to include information on new legislation, new laws, etc., it would be so helpful if the information provided by the Government would be – “plain and simple explanations” rather than the convoluted, and “political” and “legal” and “bureaucratic” information. We are talking about communicating, and how can we communicate if we don’t fully understand what is being said.

How about a page similar to a FAQ- but name it, “How Does This New Law Affect The Everyday US Citizen”? And include plain and simple information that US citizens need to have answers to or neeed to know.

An Example would be:
“How Does “”HIPPA”" Affect The Everyday US Citizen”?

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INCENTIVES FOR GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TO SAVE MONEY

Too many times I have seen government agencies, including military services, have to spend the end of year money JUST to spend it. It makes me wonder why we can’t offer incentives to government agencies to SAVE money rather than HAVE to spend it at the end of the fiscal year.

If we can incentivize agencies for saving money maybe they wouldn’t spend it. The laws have to be changed and made more transparent in order to challenge and recognize smart fiscal spending. For each agency that saves a sum of funding, they should get 50% of that sum transferred to the following fiscal year in the form of a savings certificate, much like a 6 month or 1 year CD. The other 50% gets put in a pot to reduce the public debt, give to more needy agencies, etc. Employees who help save that money can be given monetary bonuses, extra time off, recognition ribbons/medals, higher promotional possibilities, safety from RIFs, etc. Employees can choose their course of which type of incentive they want. Incentives such as higher promotional possibilities are cummulative. The employee would receive something in the way of a point system where he/she can accumulate points to add towards a future promotional test.

We need to keep the end of year spending down to normal expense, NOT “we gotta go out and get rid of this cash” insanity. Each agency, in turn, needs to have sounder fiscal planning throughout the year. They can’t be hamstrung with shoestring funding for the first 6 months then have to wait until March or April before getting normal funding. This helps agencies plan better. The better the planning, the better we all come out.

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The main website has a lot of useful information. I would like to see access to government databases via SQL or English language searches. There is a lot of information in government hands that companies pay to obtain in reports. You could make that data available more easily, less expensively, and faster by providing direct access. Specifically at the moment I would find it helpful to access a central repository tracking types and numbers of surgeries in the US.

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suggest two items;

1. here here! personal account very good idea
2. add tax return software such as turbo tax for free, this way taxes due the gov will roll in faster. include state and federal. keep it simple mainly for people 100,000 & under. then submit to the irs, the average joe can save money rather than paying a tax preparer!
3. direct in-put for individuals to to improve credit scores without ding for checking their scores. allow individuals to dispute, with proof.
4. always keep this disscussion open, rather than have a deadline for suggestions! i always found customers know more about the business than the owners! they are a wealth of information, tap into it!

thankgodiamlivinginthe USA!

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This is a very powerful tool and it can be a very powerful for change. As an American of Hispanic roots, I believe this tool is a must. The greates need in American Hispanic communities is taking education seriously. Time and again the numbers of Hispanics kids dropping out and showing very gains in education is a crisis. This tool could help get the word out: Hispanic Americans need help and they need to help themselves.

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Yes, there should be general topic blogs e.g., Immigration, Health Care, etc. More importantly, the blog should be read daily by the head of the agency or a report prepared for him or her by a deputy with the blog’s suggestions incorporated into it. Key suggestions should be discussed in meetings for feasibility of implementation. Otherwise, what is the point of being on blog? Time is too valuable to waste on suggestions going into a circular file or not being acted on.

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Andrea, you are on target. The site needs to have structure. Perhaps Topic (eg Health Care) and under that Poblems, Questions + Answers, Pros/Cons with proposed solutions and finally a recommended Conclusion/Solution.

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We need processes which help us communicate and participate with our government. Having worked, at all levels of government service, I know how important it is to be accessible and responsive. It’s easy to get lost in the bureaucracy.

I think part of the Directive should break down bureaucratic walls.

The dialog tool could be constructed in such a way to make it easier on your end and simpler on ours. However, dialog is a two way street and will only work well if there is someone on the other end. I would encourage at least two streams of dialog. One for issues, complaints, expression and one for ideas, innovation, evaluation, etc. Both are important and very different.

I’d also create on for directing questions which need answers.

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I would like to see api access to government data. I frequently rewrite applications that draw data like ranks, government organizations, installations, holidays, clearance categories and addresses. It would be nice to have a central service that contained this data and eliminated the need to recollect/enter this data repeatedly.

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