Just a little update to the article I posted previously about President Obama saying he would help cut the budget, in part, by consolidating the purchase of office supplies by some governmental agencies.
The first article mentioned the Department of Homeland Security being where the idea originate, but according to Federal Computer Week, the State Department is on board, as well:
For example, the Homeland Security Department plans to consolidate its purchase of office supplies and computer software across the organization, qualifying the department for larger bulk discounts. DHS officials expect to save up to $59 million during the next five years. The State Department is taking similar measures.
Obviously this comes as part of a larger budget-reduction package that includes lots of cuts that don’t really apply to us here, at an office supplies blog. Still, for some reason this little quote has legs; pundits from all over have chided or lauded Obama’s “office supply cutbacks” line as something either indicative of a forward-thinking president who isn’t ashamed to make those sort of “it was right in front of us all along” sort of decisions, or as something indicating he’s out of touch if he thinks buying office supplies differently can save our budget.
Personally, I’m inclined to think he’s on the right path. A couple of simple changes here and there are how you tend to make real progress. And if the President is looking for a good company to snag those Sharpies* from, he can get in touch with me.
*Note: I doubt the government really needs Tropical Color Mini Sharpies. But if they do, that’s awesome.
