[Alfred O. Bama]

Oh and lets not forget special rates. Where OPM can declare a job hard to fill and give it a bonus. Doctors and flight controllers get that.

That pretty much confirms it right there. They simply could not get doctors, flight controllers, and other high-skill jobs at government salaries, so they had to sweeten the deal.

[fireforeffect]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-sweet-gig-of-being-a-bureaucrat-1447978181?alg=y

The headline says it all.