As John DePetro says, paying outgoing Department of Health Director Nicole Alexander-Scott $46,000 per month for three months as a “consultant” by way of ushering her out the door “is absolutely outrageous.”

On a first pass, it makes one wonder what was really going on behind the scenes.  How did she have the negotiation leverage to get that much taxpayer cash?  Maybe she knows some dirt, or maybe merely threatening to badmouth Governor Dan McKee was enough.  Or maybe he’s just not a strong leader, so he assuaged his guilt with the handout.

On a second pass, one realizes that this is emblematic of a weakness of government as a service provider.  Without competitive constraints, it’s just so easy to use more money to make difficulties go away.  This is a central reason we pay so much for government.  Something went wrong?  Throw money at it.  Facing a difficulty replacing an executive who isn’t performing as desired?  Throw money at her.

After all, there are so many people who think that they’re getting money thrown at them that they’ll keep the scheme going.