From what I've seen, this dichotomy is not too dissimilar from how private corporations will skimp on employee pay (SG&A/OpEx) while firing the money gun at con

From what I've seen, this dichotomy is not too dissimilar from how private corporations will skimp on employee pay (SG&A/OpEx) while firing the money gun at consulting/contracting companies (CapEx) or doling out impressive offers for new hires on strategic projects. Different buckets of (tax-payer) money.