> his annual budget had increased from $65m to $70m in the past two years – about the level of inflation. “So I’m at net zero.” Now there's some creative spin,

> his annual budget had increased from $65m to $70m in the past two years – about the level of inflation. “So I’m at net zero.” Now there's some creative spin, describing five megabucks as "net zero". Even accepting the premise that the budget needs to be adjusted for inflation (some of which is, after all, increasing costs of such things as land and labor) over such a short time period, that's a rate of nearly 3.8% annually, which strikes me as remarkably high.