Right-Winger Duffy (Wisconsin) whines about salary ( $174K) gets nailed by citizen

[Scuba]

http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/29/rep-sean-duffy-complains-about-his-salary/



<snip>

“I’m just wondering what your wage is and if you guys would be willing to take a cut,” he asked Duffy.

Displaying that delicate sense of empathy characteristic of conservatives, Duffy whined about his $174,000 congressional salary and his “used minivan.” When the man pointed out his salary was “three times what I make,” Duffy reassured him that “I have more debt than you.” “I’m not living high off the hog,” he added:

Constituent: But a hundred and seventy-four thousand, that’s three times — that’s three of my family’s — three times what I make.

Duffy: Well our budget…I moved to cut by 5 percent. I did. You know what, I have no problem..let’s have a movement afoot. I walked into this job 6 weeks ago..um that I worked incredibly hard for. And I can guarantee you or most of you, I guarantee that I have more debt than all of you."

<end snip>

Yeah, he owes the Koch's a big debt, and he sounds scared.

[sendero]

1. This guy makes $174K and has.

.... "more debt than you". And I want this jerkwad running MY finances? I don't think so.

[Bonobo]

2. Yeah, because everyone's salaries are based on how much debt they have, right? nt

[livetohike]

8. No background checks for legislators I guess

He wouldn't be able to get a secret clearance for a real job if he was carrying that much debt. Security risk.

[Raschel]

19. I know huh. WTH does his debt have to do with any of it.

[Hannah Bell]

3. and if you don't have any debt you get your salary cut & your pension taken away?

what a goon.

[Raschel]

22. Yep, and your healthcare too.

[Pacifist Patriot]

4. Constituent Response:

So you're saying if I go out and buy a bigger house and a new car and take my family on a vacation on my credit card you'll clear it with my boss and he'll triple my salary, right?

[mrcheerful]

5. Well I have heard the same clap trap from a few wing nuts who claimed my

life on disability was better then theirs because I didn't have the debt they had. Never mind the fact that I lived on what they made working for 3 days or the fact that unlike them I didn't have the option to work 5 days and volunteer for over time for even more wages. Nor did they realize that while I lived in an 8X40 trailer while they lived in a 4 bedroom house with 2/12 baths or the fact that I didn't own a car while they had 2 cars less then 5 years old or the reason I didn't have a car was because PLPD insurance cost to much while both their cars carried full coverage insurance. What always amused me was how fast they could turn around and claim they couldn't afford to live on what I lived on when I offered to trade lives with them, without blinking an eye, forgetting all about how lucky I was because I didn't have to work, didn't have to work like it was a choice I made.

[DainBramaged]

6. Living beyond his means.......isn't their mantra living within our means?

Fucking lying hypocritical puke

[HughBeaumont]

7. Welcome to the . . . "Real World", Sean.

:rofl:

These are America's politicians - actors, CEOs, nose-picking dry drunk sons of former Presidents and reality TV stars.

Utterly. Fucking. Amazing.

[Viking12]

9. Does anyone have a more thorough provenance for this story

ThinkProgress links to Rightguardia who does not provide any info on the original source of this story. It seems unlikely that someone from Ohio would be at a townhall in NW WI so Rightguardia must have picked this story up from somewhere else...any further info?

[Tatiana]

16. TPM also has the story

Here's what Duffy says about his salary:

"I can guarantee you, or most of you, I guarantee that I have more debt than all of you. With 6 kids, I still pay off my student loans. I still pay my mortgage. I drive a used minivan. If you think I'm living high on the hog, I've got one paycheck. So I struggle to meet my bills right now. Would it be easier for me if I get more paychecks? Maybe, but at this point I'm not living high on the hog."


http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/03/gop-rep-im-struggling-on-my-174k-salary-video.php

It would be hilarious if it wasn't so grossly tragic.

[Viking12]

18. Thank you!

[MaeScott]

10. Another whiny Pharisee. nt

[Betty]

11. you have more debt because you bought more shit

that was your choice asshole, no one held a gun to your head. That fucker makes almost four times what I make.

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. So he admits that he lives beyond his means...

[sinkingfeeling]

13. Newly-minted Rep. Steve Womack also thinks he's not making enough to take a 'cut'.

http://sayitaintsoalready.com/2011/03/01/arkansas-rep-steve-womack-r-says-he-cant-afford-to-cut-his-174000-salary/

“My income is $174,000 a year,” Womack said. “I do make a sizable amount, more than many people in this room, but I am not a wealthy person.”

Much of a congressman’s income must go toward traveling back and forth between one’s district and maintaining two households, he said.

“I’m not one of the guys who wants to live on my couch — I don’t think it’s healthy,” Womack told the audience.


Median Arkansas household income - $38,820

[Raschel]

20. “I’m not one of the guys who wants to live on my couch — I don’t think it’s healthy,”

But they all (Republicans) sure think it's healthy for the little people.

[Merlot]

28. So they don't get per Diem's and reimbursements for business expenses?

They don't take tax deductions for all those extra traveling and two household expenses?

I'm finding that a little hard to believe.

[xchrom]

14. me. me. me. -- it's all about me. my debt. me. nt

[hifiguy]

15. This ambulatory turd should try

living on one-sixth of his salary, just as many of his constituents do. :grr: :wtf:

[Raschel]

21. And let's see how far his $174 stretches w/o healthcare for his seven kiddies.

[JHB]

17. Perhaps you're living too large, Duff ol'boy.

From Wikipedia:

Sports and reality TV
He started log rolling at age 5 and speed climbing (sprinting up 60 and 90 foot poles) at 13. He holds two speed-climbing titles. As a teen, Duffy competed in the National Lumberjack Championships and is a three-time world champion in the 90-foot speed climb and has several other titles. He still competes in local and national competitions. Duffy also has been an ESPN color commentator for televised competitions and in 2003 appeared as both a competitor and commentator on ESPN's Great Outdoor Games. He was named Badger State Games Honorary Athlete of the 2004 Winter Games.

While in his 20s, Duffy appeared on The Real World: Boston. the sixth season of the MTV reality television show and on Road Rules: All Stars in 1998, where he met his wife Rachel. Duffy later appeared at age 29 on Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Battle of the Seasons, which aired in 2002. Both appeared in a filmed segment on 2008's The Real World Awards Bash, while Duffy served as district attorney.

Early political career
Duffy, a Republican, was appointed to the district attorney's post in 2002 by then Gov. Scott McCallum, and was elected unopposed in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008. Upon assuming the office of district attorney, he succeeded Michael Gableman, a current justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Duffy was on the Republican slate of the 10 Wisconsin electors for the 2008 Presidential Election. He served as the chair for the Republican Party of Wisconsin's seventh congressional district, and was succeeded by Michael Munson.

A lawyer with a recurring TV gig? And you've got so much debt that you're whining about your bills on a $174K salary? As the article in the OP notes, maybe you should sell your second home in Iron River, WI if you're going to "start getting real" about your debt. It'll at least pay for a new minivan.

And if I can be forgiven for using a common conservative argument, six kids? If you can't afford six kids maybe you should have kept it zipped. Or made better use of condoms.

[AngryOldDem]

24. Seven kids? That's all he has?

And condoms are out. His wife is a deeply devout Roman Catholic (Rachel Campos, who was on The Real World San Francisco). I've seen her on shows bragging about how great it is to have big families.

[Blue Owl]

23. Duffman's switchin' to Keystone...

n/t

[YellowRubberDuckie]

25. I posted this on my facebook...

...and got attacked. I love it so, so much! Apparently this and the bombing in Libya are the same thing? :shrug:

[Shallah Kali]

26. another rich man whining he isn't rich. reminds me of that law professor with his lawn service,

house cleaner, priviatly schooled children...

http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2010/09/in-which-mr-deling-responds-to-someone-who-might-be-professor-todd-henderson.html

Now it is time for a reality check on this "most working Americans." The median household income in the United States today is $50,000. Half of all households make more than this. Half of all households make less. The big expenses in the Xxxxxxxxx family budget--their $60,000 a year in contributions to tax-favored retirement savings vehicles, their $25,000 a year savings building home equity, their $55,000 for housing, their $60,000 in private school costs, even their $10,000 a year for new cars--are simply out of reach for the overwhelming majority of Americans. Half of all households make less than $50,000 a year--the Xxxxxxxxxs make nine times that. 90% of households make less than $100,000 a year--the Xxxxxxxxx's make 4.5 times that. The Xxxxxxxxx's are solidly in the top 1% of American households, in the select 1% group that receives more than $350,000 a year.

By any standard, they are really rich.

But they don't feel rich. They have a cash flow problem. When the bills are paid at the end of the month, the money is gone--and they feel that they have to scrimp.

snip

Professor Xxxx Xxxxxxxxx's problem is that he thinks that he ought to be able to pay off student loans, contribute to retirement savings vehicles, build equity, drive new cars, live in a big expensive house, send his children to private school, and still have plenty of cash at the end of the month for the $200 restaurant meals, the $1000 a night resort hotel rooms, and the $75,000 automobiles. And even half a million dollars a year cannot be you all of that.

[JHB]

27. •$60,000 in student loan payments?

(in addition to the things listed above)
Is that for him and his wife? Or does it include his kids? Either payments of that size should pay it off in a few years and then the 60K is all gravy, or Good Lord! how much debt did you rack up? And in what universe did that level of personal debt seem like a reasonable proposition? because one little hiccup in your rise to professional stardom would have made it completely impossible to keep up with.

What good is your PhD if you don't use your head, professor?