http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/08/1319901/-Former-Republican-congressman-makes-six-figures-says-he-lives-paycheck-to-paycheck?detail=email
What is it with members (and former members) of Congress complaining about how little they earn? The latest is GOP ex-Rep. Bobby Schilling, who's seeking his old seat against Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos in Illinois' 17th District. In a recent radio interview, Schilling, who made $174,000 while serving in the House and still pulled down a healthy $100,000 last year in the private sector, complains that he's living hand-to-mouth:
"These increases, these are on our working poor, our middle class, hardworking taxpayers here across the United States of America. And now these folks are going to have to decide am I going to pay this premium or am I going to go buy some milk and groceries for the house. It's really getting tough for everyone. Everyone that I talk to, I don't hear them saying 'hey, I'm doing great'. And the folks that are living paycheck-to-paycheck, which is most Americans, including myself, is that, you know, this is not something that you want to be putting out when you've got a kid that wants to play sports or you want to take a trip for vacation. Instead, you've got to funnel your money over to Obamacare, which is something you might never have to use."
Schilling joins a long list of congressional whiners, including Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI), Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA), Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA), and Rep. Steve Southerland (R-FL), who've all complained about how painfully little they earn. That's only the most recent batch, though. There's a long tradition stretching back to the late ex-Rep. Fred Heineman, who 20 years ago infamously declared that a person making $80,000 a year was "lower middle class." Oh, the inhumanity!
But as Rich Miller points out, Schilling didn't just earn six figures last year—he also listed assets totaling between $254,000 and $660,000 dollars on his financial disclosure forms. What's more, his earnings were almost two-and-a-half times the median $42,500 income in his district.
this is the audacity of republican arrogance he has to know that it's public knowledge and how much it is so he can best know how to avoid taxes but his need to be noticed shined a spotlight on him that probably would have gone un noticed had he kept his mouth shut, IRS needs to investigate because pulling down those numbers and calling it check to check maybe the DOJ or his local vice squad should be the ones checking out why.
