Written by As the 2012 election year approaches, many topics are sure to surface, but none so much as the U.S. budget, its deficit and how to stop unnecessary spending. This topic is on the minds of not only the presidential candidates, but also every American citizen.
Democrats and Republicans alike agree that something needs to be done to preserve the nation. It seems no one knows exactly how to go about such a task. Except for Michael George.
Michael George is the founder of Strong America Now, a nonprofit conservative political group aimed at eliminating the national debt with no new taxes through the use of lean Six Sigma, which is aimed at reducing waste and maximizing profits and quality for businesses. So why can’t it work for the government? According to George, it can.
There are more than 25 case studies on the Strong America Now website demonstrating the success of lean Six Sigma processes in the government sector. For example, the Department of Defense Naval Warfare Systems Center in Charleston, SC, used lean Six Sigma to increase production of Mine Resistant Ambush Vehicles that protect Marines and soldiers in Iraq.
George is imploring candidates running for presidential nominations to sign a lean Six Sigma pledge
…to eliminate spending deficits and start paying down the national debt by 2017 by deploying lean Six Sigma waste reduction methods to detect and eliminate 25% of spending per year across the federal government, and to attend two days of training on the lean Six Sigma method and complete a waste reduction project prior to my inauguration.
President Obama is showing interest in lean Six Sigma through his Jobs and Competitiveness Council, which will be “applying business concepts (like the lean Six Sigma approach) to regulatory processes” later this year.
Tim Pawlenty, former Minnesota governor, also promised to save up to 20% in most government programs with lean Six Sigma in one of his Republican presidential nomination campaign speeches.
The current political buzz about lean Six Sigma is exciting those who have seen what it can do in the business sector. According to the Craig Setter, president and CEO of Aveta Business Institute, a leading provider of online Six Sigma training, “we are ecstatic to hear that Six Sigma is finally being looked at as a serious large-scale option for decreasing the national debt. We fully support this approach.”
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