Obama Asks Workers How to Curb Spending

President Obama appealed to federal workers today to propose ways to make their agencies' and departments' budgets more efficient. The president said employees' ideas would be key as his Cabinet officials cut millions from the federal budget and trim the deficit. "After all, Americans across the country know that the best ideas often come from workers, not just management," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address.

"We'll establish a process through which every government worker can submit their ideas for how their agency can save money and perform better," Obama continued. "We'll put the suggestions that work into practice." Obama's pitch comes at the end of a week focused on federal spending. Yesterday, Democrats in Congress neared a deal on Obama's budget proposal and inched closer to passing a bill that would result in some $500 billion in deficits. (More government spending stories.)