(b) $1500/week is low for a good US programmer. http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/software-developer/salary
2013 average software dev salary was over $92k/year ($1769/week), and the ones who can crank out a 50% improvement on the Monero miner are closer to that top 10% figure -- think $150k/year and up. The bounty also doesn't include benefits and the other nice things offered by a standard employer.
I think I can make the monero miner 100% faster. but the AMD miner from claymore is too good to make it worth the effort. I work fulltime in a company that pays $xxx,xxx dollars a year. Optimizing CCminer is just a hobby I do in my sparetime after work.
Donate some beers, and I am happy.