Is he joking?

An article in the Press Citizen today detailed the financial records released by the Iowa Rain Forest project. They're spending tax payer money while making zero progress. Here's the kicker:

Some $321,021 went to salaries for six people, five of whom started during 2004 and therefore did not collect full salaries, Oman said. Oman's salary in 2004 was $189,500 plus $5,310 in benefits, an increase from $148,791 in 2002 and $175,000 in 2003.

Oman said the project keeps salary costs below similar projects by maintaining a smaller staff.

"We're running this in a pretty tight way with a very small number of people working very hard," Oman said.

Running it "tight"? Oman's making $189,500/year and he calls that tight? Plus, he's had substantial raises each year while accomplishing nothing. This is sickening. How does this man sleep at night?