Democrats pounced Thursday on politically inartful comments by Rep. Steve Southerland (R-Fla.), who told constituents that his $174,000 salary is nothing to write home about. 
 
 The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee hammered Southerland for statements he made during a visit to a retirement community in his Tallahassee-area district, in which he suggested his congressional salary was not worth the safety risks in the wake of the shooting that gravely injured Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in January. 
 
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 The DCCC response noted that Southerland’s salary is four times a local police officer’s take. 
 
 “It’s unbelievable how far out of touch Rep. Steve Southerland is with Florida families if he thinks his $174,000 salary is not so much,” DCCC spokesman Adam Hodge said in a statement. “While he’s complaining about only making $174,000, his constituents are struggling to put food on the table, keep a roof over their head or find a job.” 
 
 “And by the way, did I mention? They’re shooting at us. There is law-enforcement security in this room right now, and why is that?” Southerland said Wednesday, according to The Tallahassee Democrat. Southerland reportedly painted his salary as small compensation considering he had to cut ties with his family business and that, he said, there’s no free health insurance. 
 
 “If you think this job pays too much, with those kinds of risks and cutting me off from my family business, I’ll just tell you: This job don’t mean that much to me. I had a good life in Panama City,” Southerland said, according to the newspaper. 
 
 In a statement to POLITICO, Southerland said his remarks had been misinterpreted and that “other than the successes of my marriage and my family, serving the people of North and Northwest Florida has been one of the greatest honors of my life.” 
 
 “The folks who were in the room with me in Tallahassee on Wednesday understand the full context of the statements I made,” he said. “In the course of yesterday’s conversation, I explained in a transparent fashion how members of Congress are compensated, along with some of the unexpected events that can occur in the course of our work.” 
 
 Southerland won the Tallahasse-centered district by unseating Democrat Allen Boyd last year. It’s currently a GOP-leaning district, but may get slightly more competitive under Florida’s yet-to-be-drawn redistricting plan. Florida’s redistricting won’t be completed until next year. 
 
 Former Republican state Sen. Nancy Argenziano had announced that she would run for the seat as a Democrat, but a state elections board said she cannot because she was registered with a different party for a year before the period when candidates qualify for the ballot. 
 
 Florida state Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith told POLITICO there’s an easy fix if Southerland misses his life before he was elected to Congress. 
 
 “There’s one thing we agree on: He should return to his good life in Panama City,” Smith said. 

 U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland told retirees Wednesday that serving in Congress is a great honor and privilege, but not cushy job with lavish insurance and pension benefits that many disgruntled taxpayers seem to think it is. 
 
 He said his $174,000 salary is not so much, considering the hours a member of the House puts in, and that he had to sever ties with his family business in Panama City. Southerland also said there are no instant pensions or free health insurance, as some of his constituents often ask him about in Congress. 
 
 "And by the way, did I mention? They're shooting at us. There is law-enforcement security in this room right now, and why is that?" Southerland told about 125 people in an auditorium at the Westminster Oaks retirement community. "If you think this job pays too much, with those kinds of risks and cutting me off from my family business, I'll just tell you: This job don't mean that much to me. I had a good life in Panama City." 
 
 In a wide-ranging forum with residents, Southerland said the Republican leadership of the House is protecting Social Security and Medicare. The Democratic Party in Washington is making calls into the sprawling 2nd Congressional District, ripping Southerland for his vote against the debt-ceiling agreement and accusing him and other tea party freshmen of endangering benefits for the poor and elderly. 
 
 Southerland, 45, said his parents are Medicare beneficiaries "and I'm not going to do anything to cross Mama." He said federal entitlement programs must be adjusted, though, for workers 54 years old and younger because of rising Medicare enrollment and soaring medical costs. 
 
 Westminster resident Barbara Rhodes cited Gov. Rick Scott's $30-a-month state health insurance, the same coverage provided for about 32,000 elected officers and state managers, as well as the federal health-care plan for members of Congress. 
 
 "If the rest of us could qualify for the same health insurance that the governor does, and that members of Congress have, would that help solve the problem?" she asked.
– A freshman GOP rep from Florida is taking some heat after suggesting his salary isn't worth the dangers of his job in the wake of Gabrielle Giffords' shooting, the loss of income from his family business, and the lack of free health care. “They’re shooting at us. There is law-enforcement security in this room right now, and why is that?” Rep. Steve Southerland asked a town hall meeting Wednesday, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. “If you think this job pays too much, with those kinds of risks, I’ll just tell you: This job don’t mean that much to me. I had a good life in Panama City.” Democrats are inviting him to go back there, with the DCCC pointing out that Southerland makes four times what a police officer in his district makes. “It’s unbelievable how far out of touch Rep. Steve Southerland is with Florida families if he thinks his $174,000 salary is not so much,” said a Democratic spokesman. Southerland tells Politico that his words were taken out of context and clarified that his job in Congress is “one of the greatest honors of my life.”