Former GSA Chief Doan: Shutdown Might Be a Good Thing

A shutdown of the government won’t cause a crisis, and may be needed to spark significant spending cuts, says Lurita Doan former head of the General Services Administration.

“A government shutdown will not be the calamity pundits predict and may actually be necessary,” she writes on Politico. President Barack Obama has proposed $10 trillion of deficit spending over the next decade, says Doan, now a commentator on Federal News Radio.

“Republicans (mostly) say that this cannot continue and are now forcing government to deal with the unpleasant task of restoring fiscal responsibility,” she writes. “Democrats (mostly) do not believe any meaningful cuts to the budget are possible and are digging in to protect even the most tangential non-essential programs such as NPR.”

Bottom line, she says: “A conflict is inevitable, and government shutdown is just one manifestation.”