Right. I feel the need to add that it's not all "us vs. them" in the day-to-day, but the subject of this post is a negotiation between me and them, hence the 'us vs. them' demeanor in some of my comments.

I think you're right to question whether the $40/month is the real issue. I am questioning myself whether I want to be on a team whose non-technical leaders (I feel) do not respect their technical team members.