the seat of power gets cushier...

...while the workers take cuts. What am I talking about? Well the recently-hired City Manager where I work (the City of Larkspur), has been impressing on all employees that the City budget is in a state of "structural deficit." We know what that means -- that in the near future we worker bees are going to be hit with cuts. But the infuriating thing is that while talking about being compelled to dip into reserves to balance this year's budget, the City Manager went and bought himself a new $900 leather chair! I know there are stories like this in the news every day, and each time I say "shame on you" to the mighty for thinking that the boss is entitled to spend money to make things, well, cushier (never mind the hefty salary) while the folks at the lower level fall further behind.