Susan Walsh/AP
House Speaker John Boehner poses with Rep. Sean Duffy and his family on Jan. 5 in Washington.
Now we're seeing what happens when you're picked to live in a House, and people stopped being polite. Things are getting real for freshmen Rep. Sean Duffy of Wisconsin. In a recent speech, the former MTV Real Word Boston cast member complained about his $174K salary — roughly three times what the average Wisconsin voter makes in a year.
The GOP wants video of his speech removed from the Internet. (TPM still has a clip). Since his paychecks come from tax-payer funds, Democrats have been quick to jump on his comments.
It all started when he was asked whether or not he would cut his own salary. Duffy said yes, but only if there was a widespread plan slashing salaries for all public employees. Then, the Republican described his personal money woes as a U.S. Congressman:
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.
Used minivan? He’s slumming it.
Duffy probably doesn’t have anything to worry about. Even if there is a full on government shutdown, members of Congress will still likely get paid.
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Maybe he should have lived within his means and stopped having so many kids. Him being unable to keep from procreating isn't my problem. I thought we were all about personal responsibility now.
He's a politician works hard doesn't apply. Hardly working is more like it.
There is no "likely" involved in whether members of Congress would get paid in a government shut down. They will. During the Newt Gingrich induced 1995-1996 shut down I continued to receive bills while not receiving a check. Newt continued to receive a check just the same. Hoping to find some fairness in the mess I copied all my bills and mailed them to Newt saying, simply, that since I was not getitng paid because he threw a fit and he was still getting paid, it was only fair that he pay my bills. Newt never wrote back and never paid any of my bills. Imagine that.
I wouldn't consider his comments complaining about his salary, but truly he doesn't have a ton to complain about- many more people make do with a lot less in the exact situation he is in.
If Rep Duffy needs his $174K per year to cover his enormous family, imagine how hard it it for a middle-class family to cover the same costs on $60K a year or less. Sorry, I can't sympathize with Rep. Duffy. Things are tough all over. The fact that he's getting nailed publicly is a result of his complaining about it publicly. He should have kept his mouth shut. And if someone thinks it's easy to just go get a better-paying job, then someone hasn't tried to get a job lately. The job market is still tighter than hell.
Its not Obama's energy policy which is Bush's policy which raised gas prices so high that McCain and Carabou Barbie were campaigning on "drill baby drill," and its not Libya when Saudi Arabia has already opened up its reserves to pick up slack for Libya's shortfalls. Its speculation on Wall Street that has artificially driven up gas prices. But that makes it all alright doesn't it?
Actually I do blame Obama for that. He never change the regulatory regime that produced Deepwater Horizon, opened up further exploration of the Gulf, never regulated hydro-frakking which was arranged by Cheney. All attempts to create renewable/clean energy legislation had been killed by minority fillibuster in the Senate.
As for Bush, if his polices were so good for America, just how much of a budget surplus did he leave for Obama to start with? And Bush had been explicitly warned about 9/11 coming in August, but sat on his hands. Could not even be bothered to quit reading to school children when America was being attacked.
Like how Bush started out with a budget surplus and wound up finishing his second term creating only 1/20th the jobs that Clinton did and with a Wall Street meltdown and housing crisis, threw America into a war of his choice which he led America into by lying to Congress and the people on false evidence gained under torture (violating the Geneva Convention,) shorted the Veterans Administration a billion dollars and turned his back on the wounded veterans his wars created (neat trick, getting wounded soldiers to admit to having personality disorders - telling them that if will expedite their paperwork when it in fact cuts off their benefits. Nice. Patriotic.) All because of his daddy issues. Had he gotten some therapy, over 4 thousand American would still be alive as well as hundreds of thousand of Iraqi citizens, God knows how many American and Iraqi wounded would still be sound of life and limb. Meanwhile, Osama bin Laden still walks free. Mission Accomplished. Winning!
And keeping the cost of the wars off the books? Classy! Wars don't cost anything if you ignore them. Brilliant! Violating 4th Amendment Unreasonable Search and Seizure with warrantless wiretaps and seizure of phone records. Deregulation everywhere, assigning to the labor saftey board men who'd had mine explosions on their watch http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/05/osha-director-ed-foulke-blames.html. Having Ken Lay of Enron fame help in the drafting of energy policy which led to rolling blackouts on California. The leadership demonstrated during Hurricane Katrina. All of the time he spent on vacation. Deregulation that allowed China to flood the nation with toxic toys and products, E. coli in spinach. Amazing.
On and on and on.
You are so incredibly full of crap.
Obama had to pick up the bill for Bush's wars. He's had to clean up Bush's messes. The fact that he has adpted Bush's policies make me hope for a challenge from his left.
And don't expect the gains Republicans had made to last. There is not a single policy position that is any different than what Bush ran on or put into practice. They ran on jobs jobs jobs, but I'm hearing now is "if they lose those jobs, so be it." And attacks on unions and women's reproductive rights and more goodies for the wealthy. Jobs jobs jobs? Not so much.
Protective rights? What the hell is that, her right to carry a gun?
Riiiight, so a woman can have all the children wants to. Fine. Though it is tacky to have six kids and then bitch about how hard it is to support them on a 6 figure salary. Tacky. Very tacky.
But if a woman wants a safe abortion which is her RIGHT under the law? Well that's different isn't it?
That some people's mama should have swallowed.
I said it was TACKY to bitch about how hard it is to have six kids and then support them all on a six figure salary.
On the subject of abortion, women don't get free abortions...not even at "free clinics" like Planned Parenthood. If they don't have the money, they don't get the procedure. Instead, your tax dollars go to such things as forced ultrasounds where the transponder is inserted vaginally so women can be physically violated before the procedure if they weren't before (as is the law here in Oklahoma), for ten minutes of questionaires on WHY they are having the abortion. Now I'm sure that you've no objection to your tax dollars going into govt intereference between what should be a matter between a woman and her doctor and protected by physician/patient confidentiality. But clearly that's just not the kind of small govt personal freedom and liberty you believe in.
As for the oil price, yes it is stock market speculation which is driving up oil prices and will drive up food prices shortly. It is driven purely on NEWS from Libya and doesn't have a goddamn thing to do with actual oil supply. Domestically produced energy - oil, natural gas, coal, all goes on the open market and the money goes in the pockets of the companies who sell it. Some of which, like BP - remember BP? - aren't even American, but still benefit from govt subsidies anyway. There are no nationalized oil reserves, oil drilled in America is not extracted to be used in America. It is SOLD to the highest bidder. This is fact, not opinion. Not theory. Drill baby drill doen't do a goddamn thing to benefit anyone other than oil companies who are already sucking on the tax payer's teat.
The Rep could do what every American alive is doing right now, looking and or working a second job and his wife could work a couple also. If his salary isn't enough (which I doubt) live the American dream according to Bush.
To indicate that MSNBC got it wrong is ridiculous. Wisconsin is doing everything they can to public employees to "balance the budget." Why? Because the salaries are "too high" and the benefits are "too rich." So, when someone like this representative indicates it is a struggle to live on $174,000.00 per year - it makes one wonder how he assumes families making the median income are making too much. To indicate that because he went to college and has debt actually bolsters the argument by the public employees themselves - in particular the teachers. Every single teacher has a four year degree, and most have masters degrees. They make FAR less than this man. Yet - we have heard how they are to blame for the budget crisis. The juxtaposition of of his salary being "not much" and everyone else's being too much - that is why this is a story. Anyone who wouldn't point this out is simply partisan to the point of pathetic. It's only when people can be "real" about their own party that their comments about other parties start to have any weight - persuassive speaking 101. And yes - I have plenty of issues with the Democrats - but the Republicans - and especially the Tea Party - are absolutely insane. But I encourage it - be as extreme as possible! Normal people all over the country - Democrats and Republicans - are learning what your real agenda is - and the backlash is going to be phenominal - it already is! These protests are not like the Tea Partiers - these are not based on fear and hate - they are based on what the right thing to do is. The Republicans and Tea Party got it wrong.
Don't understand his need to remind everybody how many children he has. Frankly, in this day and age, I am not impressed with somebody because how many children they can have. Oh, clap, clap, clap... after the first one, two, three or four don't you think the miracle of procreation is over, HELLO! And the need to further replicate yourself becomes narcissistic... oh, congratulations, you can breed like rats, oh yay! Give a break, wonder now much he was pulling down before this job? 10 to 1 says he got a great big fat pay raise, so wtf is he talking about??? Lastly, I saw this guys facebook fan club and they talk the negative ilk of no solutions and hate that makes the GOP, well.... the GOP!
Don't understand his need to remind everybody how many children he has. Frankly, in this day and age, I am not impressed with somebody because how many children they can have. Oh, clap, clap, clap... after the first one, two, three or four don't you think the miracle of procreation is over, HELLO! And the need to further replicate yourself becomes narcissistic... oh, congratulations, you can breed like rats, oh yay! Give a break, wonder now much he was pulling down before this job? 10 to 1 says he got a great big fat pay raise, so wtf is he talking about??? Lastly, I saw this guys facebook fan club and they talk the negative ilk of no solutions and hate that makes the GOP, well.... the GOP!
I feel sorry for Duffy-----NOT.
The Easy Answer (TEA) Party
Lately there have been more and more self-professed 'Tea Partiers' calling in to the Left leaning talk radio shows I often listen to and laying down the law as they brew it. This has allowed me to finally get a firm grip on exactly who I think the Teas are and where they come from.
The TEA Party is really an acronym for 'The Easy Answer Party'. They believe the lies they hear on Rich-Right Radio.
...When Limbaugh tells them that lowering taxes increases federal revenue they love the sound of it and they buy it. When Rush tells them that if his taxes are raised on the hundreds of millions he makes per year, then their taxes must also be raised on their sub-100k salaries...this is an immutable fact of nature El-Rushbo explains and they buy it. They don't know or care that during America's glory days (from 1940-1980) taxes on the Limbaugh class were double to triple what they are today.
When they were told Iraq needed to be occupied by the USA they never batted an eye because they know in their hearts that God wants America to rule the world anyway and after all Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz were right in assuming it would be an easy and lucrative adventure.
They supported deregulating the financial sector because after all 'society' would be safer and better with no government at all.
The Easy Answer Party are the Golden Goosers, believing that the less you invest in government the stronger your nation is. In other words, the people on the Right hand side of American politics, those most conservative and nationalistic and inclined to wage war...the very people who encouraged George W Bush to become the worst president in American history, to destroy the American economy and ruin America's reputation as the global good guys (which we earned in WWII) those are the Tea Partiers.
The Tea Party is comprised of the very people who were at the forefront of horrible policy making that put the USA in a hole as deep as that of the Great Depression; a hole so deep that if not for the unprecidented steps of the federal government to save our banks and auto industry America would be on her knees today and thereby offering the same temptation to tyrants the world wide that was offered to Hitler when the Great Depression crippled us.
Having failed so miserably to lead their country when they had the reins these selfish fools were left with only two options, 1. to shut up and let the other side have their turn, or 2. Change their name to something different and pretend they had nothing to do with the national tragedy which they had caused.
And the first statement issued by The Easy Answer Party was all too predictable...they claim that if the government that stepped in and pulled their nation's ass out of the fire had only stood back and done nothing...everything would have been just fine.
chipshirley.com
Chip, you're delusional. Seek help. The ring that's inserted in your nose is causing an alergy or something.
Beach blue eye? Is that some kind of medical condition? Isn't washing your eyes with bleach supposed to cure that?
Ignore the peanut gallery Chip. You got it right in one.
I didn't waste my time reading your whole thesis, I just caught this part: "When they were told Iraq needed to be occupied by the USA they never batted an eye because they know in their hearts that God wants America to rule the world anyway and after all Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz were right in assuming it would be an easy and lucrative adventure". That's all I needed to see to realize it was more left wing dribble. 73% of Americans aproved of the Iraqi War. Both the House and the Senate approved the War. Bush took 15 months deliberating on the war. Saddam Hussein was an enemy of humanity that the world has not seen in decades. Get over it LIBS! Now lets look at Libya; Obama dilberated for 2 weeks, got no approval from anyone, and only 47% of Americans approve. And by the way, Ghaddafi is NO Imediate THREAT to the USA. Your president is trigger happy and you on the left are the biggest hippocrites in the world. And if I misspelled somthing Blow Me!
well seems kurt is more insane then chip in my book.
but cant say that unless they speak the same thing over and over...
...
Oh, I meant to mention that my name is chip shirley and I also have a website...kind of an opinionated thing...
peas
Just another example of a delusional left-winger.
While Larry goes out of his way tonight slamming Congressman Cantor's misspeaking about the bill-to-law process he fails to realize recent history.
Obamacare did not pass both bills that were word-for-word identical. Two differently worded bills were illegally (using Larry's stated standard) "reconciled" and then sent to the President for his signature.
The one who sounds delusional is Larry. It is amazing to me that the management of MSNBC allows such segments to be broadcasted. Where does management find these people?
It's just another clear example that the Left loves to re-write history (or flat out forget it).
or did you forget that it had to go through the house and senate twice?
and dont even speak of re-writing history, go read some of it before you speak.
and i mean REAL history, not twisted facts from a biased news source(or sources)
I love the way Larry O. tries to characterize the Tea Party, as the part hell-bent on wanting to "close down the government." Well, no Larry, they don't
The party IS intent on curtailing out-of-control spending.
It's time the Left wakes up to the fact, that we're broke. The party's over and its time to get the addicts off the dole. European counties are enacting "austerity" measures and so should we.
When China decides it's had enough of out fiat currency, the music will have ended.
Not that it would affect you much, since with your salary, you already have a chair to sit-on.
Perhaps if you dared to include guests with different points of view, you could learn something about Middle America.
its time the right woke up and stopped giving the rich more money that comes from us poor folk.
If Your poor look in the mirror. I was poor and did somthing about it. I didn't cry about the rich with nose rings and tatts on my neck. Move to Cuba Communist.
Why is it everytime people like "kurt" don't like what another person has to say, their response is "Move to Cuba"? Before, of course, if was always "If you don't like it here, move to Russia." This sort of thinking is exactly what American is not about. America, as a democracy, allows for people to freely express their thoughts. If you don't like my thoughts, don't listen to me and don't read my comments on a blog. But to tell someone to "Move to Cuba" is, in the word of Scott Walker, "rediclous."
Welcome to the "Real World" Rep Sean Duffy. Many Americans live everyday wondering if the have enough money to feed their family or have a roof over their head, pay their bills, etc... Financial responsibility starts while you are young and is required to be used everyday of your life. It is evident that you don't know how to manage your money. Why should we expect you to manage our money any better.
I had to come here and post this. While I was no fan of the bombastic, arrogant one, that was KO.
Lawrence O is terrible. absolutely terrible.
While I was no fan of the arrogant, bombastic KO.
Lawrence O, is terrible. Absolutely terrible.
@phalanx- You ought to come to this site more often and see the dribble his "loyal" drones spout off.
Probably can't make is very often as the Klan meetings clash
Folks that tune into Lawrence program are treated yet again by another BOLD FACE LIE. When talking about the Senate Resolution 85 he pointed out how Rand Paul already voted for a "no fly zone" as listed in those words in the resolution. I Googled the bill, easily done, and found that no where in the document were the words "NO FLY ZONE". This man lays out lie after lie night after night and the Libs just listen with their eyes glaced over while they're adjusting the ring in their nose.
Give me facts to disprove Lawrence, I'll shut up then, seems like you have em, but i can't believe you unless you show it.
@Arizona in NV: Please see posts 20 & 21 for the facts. beachblueye is not correct.
@beachblueye: And sometimes the libs do their research and don't lie. Instead of using Google to look up a Senate (or House) Resolution try THOMAS, the website designated by Congress and maintained by the Library of Congress to make proposed legislation available to the public. You will find the full text of the resolution at If you read the text you will find in the Resolved That the Senate -- "(7) urges the United Nations Security Council to take such further action as may be necessary to protect civilians in Libya from attack, including the possible imposition of a no-fly zone over Libyan territory; " [emphasis mine]
O'Donnell is correct about the content of S.R. 85 and about how Paul voted.
Sorry, the comment program removed the link I inserted to link you to the resolution text. Following the sentence fragment, "You will find the full text of the resolution at" I pasted the bill text link. The opening page of THOMAS is: thomas.loc.gov/ Query by the bill number, s.r. 85. The bill text is at: thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:S.RES.85: (let's see if this one works)
Why?????............................ they don't do the work they don't get paid! Get a grip... when they can stop throwing tantrums and work together to make decisions that affect millions of people...then they get paid..... Federal workers, retirees and military are working!!!!!!!!!
Stop our politicians pay first..then maybe they will play nicer!
Rep. Sean Duffy should avail himself of information on birth control. The government did a study several years ago, at a large cost, and actually found out how pregnancy occurs. Did he not know this? Did he not know how much he would get paid per year? So, to sum it up, we have a new rep, has no idea how much he would get paid before he ran for office, has a good many mouths to feed because he either does not know how to prevent pregnancy, has no idea how much it costs to raise children, has no idea, evidently, how to stretch a dollar, and live within ones means, and he is going to help balance our nations budget?
Sean Puffed up Duffy should engage brain before speaking or keep up the good work for the Obama re-election campaign. The GOP, a gift that keeps producing vapid, vacuous automatons, the Stepford candidates
New reality show pilot...Sean Duffy 6 kids and whining
Another pity party rant from a Teabagger, sob, sob, sob, I do feel for the poor sucker. Lets all chip in a bit and help this poor man out now.