WTF Has Obama Done? - Issue No. 023 - Government Efficiency

What is government efficiency?  Well it's doing your best by finding success in reducing government operating costs when you get elected into office.  And President Barack Obama has done just that by managing to cut government expenses by the billions.  This can be done by simply using different software or hardware in different departments, reversing the Bush-era no-bid and single-bidder contracts in order to find the best contractor who can do the best work for the least amount of money, and so forth.

Today I will introduce you to a broad policy, a specific cut, and a targeted action by this President and his administration.  By providing these open government efforts it helps keep spending under control, and this is what we want in a President.

WTF-67

Established the President’s Management Advisory Board.

The President's Management Advisory Board (PMAB) was formed to provide the President and agencies advice and recommendations on bringing insight from the private and non-profit sectors to Federal Government management and operations. Topics that the board will address include customer service, human capital, innovative technology, and procurement. [Read More]

The President's Management Advisory Board is a council of 17 corporate executives from leading American companies. Its purpose is to provide the administration of the executive branch advice and recommendations on effective strategies for the implementation of the best business practices on matters related to federal government's management and operations, with focus on productivity, the implementation of innovative methods, customer service, and technology.  The board will be chaired by former Sirius/XM Satellite Radio Director Jeffrey Zients as part of the General Services Administration of the Executive Office. As of July 2010, appointments to the board have not been announced. [Read More-1, Read More-2]

WTF-68

Cut salaries of senior White House aides.

President Barack Obama is extending a freeze on the pay of senior White House officials for another year and he’s spreading the freeze to top political appointees across the federal government, Obama aides said Tuesday night. 

Obama is expected to announce the freeze during his State of the Union address Wednesday, officials said. He will also extend a ban he imposed last year on paying bonuses to political appointees, according to White House aides. 

“The president recognizes and we all recognize that the nation faces some really difficult choices,” an administration official who asked not to be named said. “Families are making tough choices, businesses are making tough choices. The president is simply asking political appointees who want to be part of government to be more careful and more responsible with taxpayers’ dollars.” [Read More-1, Read More-2]

WTF-69

Enhanced payment accuracy through a “Do Not Pay” list.

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

"My Administration is committed to eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in Federal programs, including reducing and recapturing erroneous payments    a commitment I reinforced in Executive Order 13520 of November 20, 2009, and in a memorandum to the heads of executive departments and agencies (agencies) of March 10, 2010.  While identifying and recapturing improper payments is important, prevention of payment errors before they occur should be the first priority in protecting taxpayer resources from waste, fraud, and abuse.  In those cases where data available to agencies clearly shows that a potential recipient of a Federal payment is ineligible for it, subsequent payment to that recipient is unacceptable.  We must ensure that such payments are not made.

Agencies maintain many databases containing information on a recipient's eligibility to receive Federal benefits payments or Federal awards, such as grants and contracts.  By checking these databases before making payments or awards, agencies can identify ineligible recipients and prevent certain improper payments from being made in the first place." - Barack Obama  [Read More]

I would like to list everything under each category, but there comes a time when even a blog gets too large. LOL. But make sure to click on the "Read More" links to read more on each WTF.

I promise to come back to this topic in another issue, until then, please feel free to read my previous issues by clicking here.

Make sure to read the next issue
Issue No. 024 - Health & Wellness

WTF Has Obama Done is an ongoing series posted daily or weekly on BLADE 7184 until Election Day, 2012!

Christmas By The Numbers: The Infographic

Wow, this is pretty impressive when you consider the amount of time that's actually spent observing the day for what it's meant to be celebrated for.

350 Million future Christmas trees are being grown on farms at this very moment, because Americans buy 25-30 million trees each Christmas season. Wow.  Mind boggling, isn't it?

by Column Five Media via

Three Charts to Email to Your Right-Wing Family Member

What a great thing to show all your right-wing nuts in your family.  Yes, everyone has them.  They rely on Fox news to give them all the information, and in turn fall for the lies and deception those idiots report.

Dave Johnson of Campaign for America's Future, wrote the following Op-Ed piece, and I couldn't have stated it any better myself. The facts are here folks... what more do you want?

Problem: Your right-wing family member is plugged into the FOX-Limbaugh lie machine, and keeps sending you emails about "Obama spending" and "Obama deficits" and how the "Stimulus" just made things worse.

Solution: Here are three "reality-based" charts to send to him. These charts show what actually happened.

Spending

Government spending increased dramatically under Bush. It has not increased much under Obama. Note that this chart does not reflect any spending cuts resulting from deficit-cutting deals.

Deficits

Notes, this chart includes Clinton's last budget year for comparison.

The numbers in these two charts come from Budget of the United States Government: Historical Tables Fiscal Year 2012. They are just the amounts that the government spent and borrowed, period, Anyone can go look then up. Peoplewho claim that Obama "tripled the deficit" are either misled or are trying to mislead.

The Stimulus and Jobs

In this chart, the RED lines on the left side -- the ones that keep doing DOWN -- show what happened to jobs under the policies of Bush and the Republicans. We were losing lots and lots of jobs every month, and it was getting worse and worse. The BLUE lines -- the ones that just go UP -- show what happened to jobs when the stimulus was in effect. We stopped losing jobs and started gaining jobs, and it was getting better and better. The leveling off on the right side of the chart shows what happened as the stimulus started to wind down: job creation leveled off at too low a level.

It looks a lot like the stimulus reversed what was going on before the stimulus.

Conclusion: THE STIMULUS WORKED BUT WAS NOT ENOUGH!

More False Things

These are just three of the false things that everyone "knows." Some others are (click through): Obama bailed out the banks, businesses will hire if they get tax cuts, health care reform cost $1 trillion, Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme or is "going broke", government spending "takes money out of the economy."

Why This Matters

These things really matter. We all want to fix the terrible problems the country has. But it is so important to know just what the problems are before you decide how to fix them. Otherwise the things you do to try to solve those problems might just make them worse. If you get tricked into thinking that Obama has made things worse and that we should go back to what we were doing before Obama -- tax cuts for the rich, giving giant corporations and Wall Street everything they want -- when those are the things that caused the problems in the first place, then we will be in real trouble.

 

What Are You Buying Your Dad This Father's Day?

I sent my father a Father's day card, and tomorrow evening I will be cooking dinner for Ryan's family.  But how much, and what exactly is the average American spending this year?

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Superbowl Spending

Thanks to one of my favorite sites, I Love Charts, I thought I'd share this chart showing which city wins for spending the most during a Superbowl.

click to enlarge