| Good afternoon, For 92 years, our nation has set aside November 11th as a day to honor those who have served in our armed forces. Originally, the day was set aside to celebrate the veterans of the First World War. Later, it was broadened to include every man and woman who has worn the uniform of the United States. And today, we continue that tradition by honoring the service and sacrifice of our troops and veterans. But I believe that this commemoration should last much longer than just 24 hours, once a year. That's why Jill Biden and I launched the Joining Forces initiative to honor, recognize, and support the veterans and military families who have given our nation so much. We're issuing a call to all Americans, so that everyone asks themselves one simple question: How can I give back? We've been overwhelmed by responses from across the country. Businesses are hiring more veterans. Nonprofit organizations are working with military children. And individuals all across the country have stepped up to help out in their community. How will you give back? 
Our efforts with Joining Forces come on top of the many actions my husband has made on behalf of our veterans and military families. He's worked to send 600,000 veterans back to school on the Post-9/11 GI Bill and taken steps to help veterans translate military experience to the private sector job market. He repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" -- so that our troops don't have to live a lie in order to serve the country they love. He ended the war in Iraq -- our service men and women there will be home for the holidays. And just yesterday, the Senate passed two tax credits that he proposed to encourage businesses to hire America's veterans and wounded warriors. So inside and outside of government, we're building a wave of support to honor and recognize our veterans and their families. We can use your help. Today, let's all find a new way that we can get involved in our communities, not just for Veterans Day, but every day. Michelle Obama
ood morning, I want to introduce you to a few federal employees who are serving our country every day, and who are thinking about ways to make sure your tax dollars aren't wasted. Yesterday, President Obama announced the four finalists for the 2011 SAVE Award, an annual contest for federal employees to submit their ideas for cutting costs by making government more effective and efficient.
We need your help to determine this year's winner – help us choose who gets to discuss their idea with President Obama. 
This year, nearly 20,000 ideas were submitted from federal employees across the country. There were a lot of great ideas, but in the end, these four really stood out: - Matthew Ritsko, NASA: At Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA employees purchase specialized tools and ground support equipment for developing and building flight projects. Many of the tools are not tracked once projects are complete, and as a result funds are wasted on duplicative purchases. In order to cut down on repeat purchases, Matthew suggests creating a centralized tool repository – or "lending library" – where these tools can be stored, catalogued, and checked in and out by NASA employees.
- Eileen Hearty, Department of Housing and Urban Development: All across the country, HUD contractors and staff conduct annual Management and Occupancy Reviews of multifamily properties (i.e. apartments) that are privately-owned and subsidized by HUD. Many of these properties receive high marks year after year and consistently provide excellent service. Eileen proposes a reduction in the frequency of reviews for high-performing properties – a change that would reward superior properties for their excellent work and reduce the travel costs, staff time, and fees paid by HUD for these reviews.
- Kevin Korzeniewski, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: When Kevin began working as an attorney in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, he automatically received a new set of U.S. Code books that get updated and reordered every year. Because the information in these books is now available online through LexisNexis, Westlaw, and free sources – where it is also updated in real time – Kevin suggests that his agency stop automatically ordering these books.
- Faith Stanfield, Social Security Administration: Every quarter, the Social Security Administration (SSA) produces and mails OASIS, a 25-plus-page, glossy magazine to 88,000 SSA employees all across the country and more than 1,000 retired SSA employees. The OASIS magazine has been around for decades; however, as more and more SSA communications shift online, Faith suggests that the magazine be released only in an online format to save money on printing and shipping that could be put to better use elsewhere.
The SAVE Award is just one of many ways we're working to ensure that none of your hard-earned tax dollars go to waste. Yesterday, President Obama signed an Executive Order instructing federal agencies to reduce spending by 20 percent on things like travel, cell phones, laptops and other devices that can be issued to employees, printing documents that can be posted online, and unnecessary plaques, mugs, water bottles, and other frivolous swag. For three years now, federal employees from across the government have submitted their ideas to help streamline and modernize their departments and agencies. These are the folks who know the system best, people who have a genuine understanding of the nitty-gritty details.
All their ideas help to save taxpayers money and make sure the government better serves the American people. And this is a chance to make sure that each of them is recognized for their foresight and creativity.
But only one of them will get a chance to sit down with the President and present their proposal. And it's up to you to choose who that is.
Vote on the SAVE Award today: Sincerely,
David Plouffe
Senior Advisor to the President
A menina que aos poucos foi trocando a barbie por maquiagem?????
Trocando o ridículo pelo perfeito?????
Trocando seu mundo de sonhos pelo da realidade.
Hoje minha vida segue em frente...
O passado não me importa.
"Tô" vivendo o presente!!!
A garotinha que cansou de acreditar
que contos de fadas começam com “era uma vez” e terminam com “um final feliz”...
Sou muito mais que essas letras,frases e fotos que falam sobre mim...
Sou as minhas atitudes,os meus
sentimentos,as minhas idéias...
O que realmente faz valer a pena estar
vivo,não há filmadora ou máquina
fotográfica que registre...ahahahaha.
Surpresas,gargalhadas,lágrimas,
enfim,o que eu sinto,quem eu sou,você
só vai perceber quando olhar nos meus
olhos,ou melhor,além deles...
Posso até ser pequena pra quem
vê...
Mas gigante pra quem ama!!!
by SCosta |
