Can politicans file for aid?

[ugonow]

First the Republican Party in Polk County, Wisconsin, pulled the tape of Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) fretting about making ends meet on his $174,000 a year salary from its own website. Now they want it gone from the whole Internet.

For a couple hours, the local county GOP was successful. But we've put an excerpt of the video back up.

A day after TPM posted the video we obtained of Duffy talking about his salary at a Polk County town hall meeting earlier this year, the Polk County GOP contacted the video provider we used to host the video, Blip.tv, and demanded the video be taken down.

The tape caused a stir for Duffy, a first-term conservative best known for his past as a reality TV show star on MTV's The Real World. Democrats flagged the comments about his taxpayer-funded salary (which is nearly three times the median income in Wisconsin) and criticisms began to flow Duffy's way.

In the clip, Duffy is asked whether he'd support cutting his own salary. Duffy says he would, but only as part of a plan where all public employees' salaries would be cut. He then said that the $174,000 in salary (not including benefits) he receives is a squeeze for his family of seven to live on:

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.Duffy's office said any Democratic criticism of his response was "a misleading attack."

The county GOP took down the video from its blog after the Washington Post posted a short clip of it yesterday morning.

An official with the Polk County GOP, which posted many other clips of the town hall on its YouTube channel, told TPM yesterday that the video was taken down because it was "was being republished without our consent."

Kirk Anderson, who manages the county GOP website filed the complaint with Blip.tv, claiming that posting the video was a copyright infringement and demanding that the video be taken down. You can view that request here.

County party Chair Sandy Fretwell did not respond to a request for comment. Duffy's office did not respond to a request either.

Here's a one-minute clip, excerpted from roughly 45 minutes of video of the public Duffy townhall, that the Polk County GOP doesn't want anyone to see:

tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/03/gopers-demand-sean-duffy-salary-tape-be-pulled-from-the-internet.php

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

The man has been in office 10 minutes. He's not exactly Teddy Kennedy or John F***** Kerry. To paint him as priviledged elite because he's had what? At most 3 full months of pay at that rate? He probably DOES still have debt out the wazoo, and he probably does have trouble making ends meet.

[ugonow]

I know I feel sorry for him. Hope his COLA is a good one.

[Gardening Grandma]

Well they are playing the clip right now on MSNBC.
The comentator's only comment was, "$174000 probably sounds like a lot of money to a lot of people"

[ugonow]

I bet people think they have good benefits too.

[Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ]

The man has been in office 10 minutes. He's not exactly Teddy Kennedy or John F***** Kerry. To paint him as priviledged elite because he's had what? At most 3 full months of pay at that rate? He probably DOES still have debt out the wazoo, and he probably does have trouble making ends meet.

He also has to maintain two households. Rentals and property in DC is astronomical.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Nevertheless, he's going to have to decide how to deal with this phoney baloney issue. I think it was a mistake to try to erase the record of it. It would have been better to admit it came off as insensitive to whine about $174K a year while so many Americans are struggling during the Obama regimes economic attack on America. He ought to have used it to segway into WHY people are so sensitive about the issue at this point in time- government spending, inflation, $4 gallon gas, and double digit unemployment, and then detailed what he's doing as their representative to fight back in the Obama War on Prosperity.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

In this political environment, we are very close to victory. It's going to take conservatives with brass balls to win. Whining about pay is unbecoming- deal with it, and stick to the issues.

[ty]

Update: After the Polk County GOP tried to pull this video off the Internet, we reposted it here.

At a town hall meeting in Polk County, Wisconsin earlier this year, Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) was asked whether he'd vote to cut his $174,000 annual salary. Duffy sort of hedged, and went on to talk about how $174,000 really isn't that much for his family of seven to live on. Then he went on to say he supports cutting compensation for all public employees, along the lines of what Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has proposed for the Badger State.

The whole thing was caught on tape, and it was posted to the Polk County GOP's blog, along with several other clips from the town hall. Then just that clip where Duffy talks about his salary was taken down and removed from the internet by the county party because, an official said, the YouTube clip "was being republished without our consent."

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.Duffy also said that he pays more in health care costs and retirement savings than he did when he was a district attorney before he ran for Congress. That said, Duffy said he'd support the idea of "public employees across the board" taking a compensation cut.

"Let's all join hands together and say 'I'll take a pay decrease, absolutely," Duffy said.

A Duffy spokesperson told TPM that Democrats are trying to make the salary line into a partisan shot.

"Congressman Duffy is committed to working with his colleagues in the House to face these challenges head on, not score cheap political points," Duffy spokesperson Daniel Son said. "Wisconsin's working families don't need partisan Democrats in Washington weighing in on the economic hardship they continue to face, especially with a misleading attack like this that Congressman Duffy's constituents know to be false."

Like all House members, Duffy makes $174,000 in taxpayer-funded salary every year. The Speaker makes a lot more ($223,500) and the party leaders and president pro tempore of the Senate make a bit more ($193,400.)

All of them make way more than most people in Polk County, Wisconsin do. The median household income there was $50,520 in 2008, according to Census data.

Whether or not Duffy is rich is a matter for debate. But that's apparently not a debate the Polk County GOP wanted to have, at least not on the wider Internet. Here's a screenshot of what the page containing the video looked like on Monday. Today, the video is gone.

"The Polk County Republican Party's blog & website is provided for the constituents in our district and when it became apparent that the content on our website was being republished without our consent, I decided to take it down," the county party's "Web & PR Guy" told TPM in an email that lacked a name. "All content and video is copyright protected by the Polk County Republican Party and may not be used without written consent."

County party Chair Sandy Fretwell told TPM in an interview he had no idea why the video was taken down, but put the aforementioned IT guy in touch with us to explain it. Fretwell said he hadn't seen the video clip on the site, but said Duffy's town hall was held "about a month ago" and he was in attendance.

"I believe he was correct," Fretwell said when asked to respond to Duffy's line about not living "high on the hog" on his $174,000/year. "What he was mentioning was he has a mortgage just like everyone else...basically, that was the pay that got set and is afforded to all members of Congress."

The chair called Duffy's pay "a good salary" and acknowledged it's on "the upper end of things" for Duffy's district, but said that's not really a fact worth talking about.

"I don't know what your point is when you compare one legislator's salary to other legislators," he said. "Everyone across all 535 members and senators, they get paid equally."

Fretwell chastised the questioner for asking Duffy to on the spot congressional salaries he didn't vote for. He said that in his book, $174,000 a year was a reasonable salary for Duffy.

"Congressmen represent us, they have a certain amount of responsibility," he said. "Given compensation across the country, sure it's more than many people make but then again their responsibility is probably greater than many people's responsibility."

Ed. Note: This post has been updated from the original.

[ed1066]

went on to talk about how $174,000 really isn't that much for his family of seven to live on.

I agree. My family of four couldn't live on it...

[Deleted]

Let's see...He's been in office just 3 months & he has "just about more debt than anyone". Sounds to me like he should come to the boards for suggestions. Sorry but my advise would be lower the pay to $120,000 & give him 4 boxes of condoms per month. That should cut down on having children 7, 8, 9, & 10. Of course if he requires more than 4 boxes of condoms per month I might change my mind.

[Deleted]

I should also add about the housing situation... A long time ago there was a bill to build Congressman house (like townhouses) in the DC area. They would live there free but not receive all of the extra housing allowance that they get. For some reason they wanted the money.

[Gardening Grandma]

You know, one would think that a fresh, new congressperson would take a bit of time to observe, to learn, before spouting their mouth off. But nooooooooooo..............

First there were the two winners who didn't even show up to be sworn in, so all their votes the first week were null and Boehner had to work out a deal to fix that.

Then there's Cantor who should know better saying tbat as soon as the House passes a bill it becomes law......

Then this dufus whining about how hard life is on $174K.

So far the Tea Party is not impressing me.

[ty]

He needs to start downsizing like the rest of the American people that are forced to downsize due to the economy. Maybe he should have invested in some condoms and some birth-control. apparently he isn't good at finances if he cannot manage a salary of 174k for a family of 6.
There are plenty of other people that are on SS, SSI, welfare, and minimum wage salaries that are managing with just a fraction on what he makes.
Sell the home and start renting. That's what most people do when they cannot afford a home. He's just trying to live the richer life on a set budget and I have no sympathy for him whatsoever.
While politicians are taking away programs for the poor, the elderly and the disabled, and then they cry that they cannot live on 174k a year, while they have the people on SS, SSI and disability checks living on 7k,10k,12k to 18k per year. It's ok for them to live on practically nothing., and then this whining moron is crying about his 174k a year salary.
Pathetic!

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Perhaps we could suggest some budget-cutting ideas, or we could chip in and send him a Dave Ramsey book? (grin) ;D

[Politically_Incorrect12]

Mar 30, 2011 23:21:24 GMT -5 Gardening Grandma said:

You know, one would think that a fresh, new congressperson would take a bit of time to observe, to learn, before spouting their mouth off. But nooooooooooo..............

First there were the two winners who didn't even show up to be sworn in, so all their votes the first week were null and Boehner had to work out a deal to fix that.

Then there's Cantor who should know better saying tbat as soon as the House passes a bill it becomes law......

Then this dufus whining about how hard life is on $174K.

So far the Tea Party is not impressing me.

I'm not sure that I've seen you say one positive thing about any conservative idea....pretty much always criticizing, although I'm not sure I've seen any real criticism of ideas coming from the left side of the spectrum.

[ugonow]

IMHO,instead of whinning,he should quit and get into teaching,where the real money and benefits are.

[Deleted]

He was on the real world? Cool!!!!



Edit: It was real world Boston.. the suckiest of all real worlds.

[chiver78]

Mar 30, 2011 23:21:24 GMT -5 Gardening Grandma said:

You know, one would think that a fresh, new congressperson would take a bit of time to observe, to learn, before spouting their mouth off. But nooooooooooo..............

I think Scott Brown already disproved this bit of common sense.....