Have you ever had a $350 bottle of wine over dinner? How about two?

Last Wednesday, Congressman Paul Ryan sipped from not one, but two bottles of fancy wine during dinner with prominent conservatives, including high-profile hedge fund manager Cliff Ansness, while the folks back home are struggling to make ends meet. The story is all the rage in the blogosphere, because of the company Paul Ryan was keeping and the outlandish cost of the wine they were drinking.

But what caught my eye was out how out of touch or just out of control the Congressman is. He speaks often of how much the people back home are struggling, usually when he needs a talking point about why Washington should cut their high spending ways. Wink. Wink. Nod. Nod. So, how do you feel those people struggling back home feel?

What can $700 buy you these days? I was curious, so I crunched some numbers.

When most families sit down at the kitchen table to figure out their family budget, food, lodging, transportation and entertainment make up the most basic items of a household budget.

A family of four recently displaced from a job living on the maximum allowance of FoodShare (formerly the Food Stamp program) can receive $668 per month for groceries.

According to Craig’s List, that same family of four could rent a two bedroom apartment in Janesville for anywhere between one-to-two months for approximately $700.

Let’s assume you are lucky enough to have a job but you have to travel 30 miles each way five days a week to work. According to AAA, the average gas price in Janesville right now is $3.617 per gallon. Paul Ryan’s fancy wine bill of $700 would carry that lucky worker 5,031 miles assuming she can afford a vehicle that gets decent gas mileage. 5,031 miles at 60 miles per day would carry that lucky taxpayer to and from work 5 days a week for four months.

Now, let’s assume that family of four is lucky enough to have worked their way into the middle class and wants to splurge for their family. Assuming they can’t afford Disneyland, they settle for a quick vacation to the Wisconsin Dells. A quick internet search shows a family of four can do a weekend trip to the Dells on the cheap for $700. If they plan ahead, they may even get a ride on the Ducks.

Congressman Ryan, instead of talking the talk, next time they bring out the wine list, choose the house wine and donate your spare change to a struggling family back home.

Wisconsin State Representative Mark Pocan (D-Madison), who coined the term FitzWalkerstan on the floor of the State Assembly, served three terms on the state’s budget committee, including one as its co-chair. He also served as the vice-chair of the non-partisan National Council on State Legislature’s Budget and Policy committee. Pocan’s Assembly district includes both the State Capitol and the Governor’s Mansion, making Governor Scott Walker his most infamous constituent.