Sean Duffy Is Joined by GOP Rep Grumbling over $174,000 Salary

U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wisconsin)
" I struggle to meet my bills right now."

The $174,000 Lament

 U.S. Representative Sean Duffy (R-Wisconsin) has company in complaining about his $174,000 tax-payer salary.

Sean Duffy may be out of touch with the American people, but not with his Republican colleagues.

In 2011 Duffy responded to a question at a town hall meeting in Polk County, Wisconsin asking if he would take a wage cut if the GOP passed its draconian budget bill.

An exasperated Duffy complained and said, "If you think I'm living high on the hog, I've got one paycheck. So I struggle to meet my bills right now."

Right.

Complaining about the salary and cushy A-1 benefits members of Congress get is almost unheard of from a sitting member.

And there's a good reason: Complaining about a $174,000 tax-payer salary means you are hopelessly out-of-touch. 

U.S. Rep Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Georgia)
"I’m stuck here making $172,000 a year,”

Now Duffy has company from his Republican colleagues. ".... I’m stuck here making $172,000 a year,” said Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Georgia) this week, National Review reports.

Members of Congress also get to keep their campaign war chests after they retire, and typically take six-figure or seven-figure lobbying or consultant gigs after they leave Congress.

Duffy owns two homes in his district, has a life-time congressional pension and a health care plan that most Americans can only dream of obtaining.

Aaron Blake in the Washington Post notes besides Sean Duffy and Gingrey less than a half a dozen members of Congress have dared to complain in recent history.