Hugh Pickens at Slashdot reports how a Wisconsin Congressman has been complaining that it’s tough to make ends meet on his meager $175,000 congressional salary (complete with extensive benefits including healthcare, defined benefit pension, paid staff, etc).  But once a video got out of him complaining about his low pay (which is more than 3 times the average of the people he represents), it seems the Republican party in his home county want to recall the video and threaten anybody who shows it with copyright infringement.

“The Examiner reports that Wisconsin Republicans claim that no one else can republish a video of United States Representative Sean Duffy (R-WI) complaining about how he is ‘struggling’ to get by on his $174,000 salary without their permission, even though they originally released the video on YouTube for the whole world to see and now the GOP is trying to take legal action to stop anyone else from republishing the video. 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 after 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. 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.”

In the interest of helping, some in Wisconsin are asking for donations: