Dim Bulb: D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray

What: Already under fire for questionable hires and a controversial budget plan, Gray now wants to raise the salary cap for D.C.’s top bureaucrats by $100,000. That would mean the highest-paid city employees could receive $290,000 a year, significantly more than federal Cabinet secretaries. Why it’s dim: A $100,000 salary cap increase? This is a joke, right?

Cure: A top annual salary of $179,096 ought to be enough in any city.