Because they don't work directly for the federal government, that's why. Because of tight labor regulations for hiring and firing and compensating government employees--and the difficulty of keeping top talent for the long term--many government agencies are making greater use of consultants.
Well, these consulting relationships open up a whole other host of problems, as illustrated by the case of Randy Kimlin, a former chemical company executive who played a large role in the day to day operations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) under the Bush administration and is currently under investigation for "violations and irregularities" in his compensation:
The improperly paid sum represents a total of $572,946 billed for Kimlin's labor over a period of 27 months ending in mid-2008 and an additional $108,434 in compensation for his commuting costs from South Carolina, the report said.
$20K a month is good money, but it's not clear that in this case the extra money created incentives that were to the good of the taxpayer. Seems that Kimlin might be one of those rare birds... a Fat Cat who is also a FatCrat.
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