Swampy PA Republican Congressional Candidate Has History of Fraud, Donating to Democrats
Peter D'Abrosca
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Dan Meuser, a Republican congressional candidate for Pennsylvania’s Ninth District is in hot water after records showing his donations to Democrats surfaced this week.
“Dan Meuser has a lot of major credibility problems,” said Meuser’s Republican primary opponent Scott Uehlinger.
Uehlinger told Big League Politics that after Pennsylvania’s congressional re-districting, he chose to run in the newly-formed Ninth District, where he lives. Meuser, on the other, hand did not.
“[Meuser] lives outside the district by about five miles, and he decided that he was going to run someplace where he doesn’t live,” said Uehlinger. “Why doesn’t he run against the Democrat incumbent congressman, [Matt] Cartwright where he lives? The reason he didn’t run against him is because he donates to his campaign. He’s actually donated to his own Democrat congressman in the last few months.”
Uehlinger pointed out that Meuser will not even be his own constituent. Neither Meuser nor his wife will be able to vote for him in the upcoming primary.
Further complicating Meuser’s run as a Republican, a series of FEC reports show that he actually donated to several Democrats – including former Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz – through his Pride Mobility Products PAC:
Pride Mobility is a manufacturer of wheelchairs, scooters, and lift chairs. The company is owned by Meuser. He often touts that he grew the company from $2 million in sales to $400 million during his 20 year tenure at the helm of the organization.
But there’s more to the story. Meuser’s company was involved in a medicare rip-off scheme up until 2004. The Acting Principal Deputy Inspector General Dara Corrigan said of the ruse:
“We have found significant and troubling abuses of the Medicare wheelchair benefit that deplete the Medicare Trust Fund of scarce dollars and harm beneficiaries. Pride Mobility Products Corporation, a manufacturer of power wheelchairs, scooters, and lift chairs, solicited and received monthly payments from suppliers in return for referring sales leads to those suppliers. On October 22, 2002, the company [Pride Mobility Products Corporation] agreed to pay $80,000 to resolve its liability for violations of the kickback provision of the Civil Monetary Penalties Law.”
It turns out that bribing public officials is quite an efficient way to increase sales revenue.
According to Uehlinger, the grassroots Pennsylvania voters harbor disdain for Meuser. He is viewed as the “establishment” character – the very type President Trump has vowed to oust from Washington D.C.
“I have the support of the grassroots,” Uehlinger said. “But even more so, Meuser does not have the support of the grassroots. People do not like him.”
“I’m a Tea Party member, and I have been for many years,” Uehlinger continued. “Other Tea Parties in other counties – even if I didn’t exist – they would still be out there circulating all this information on Meuser.”
Uehlinger said that there is no question that the tide is turning against Meuser.
“Things just continue to unravel for him,” he said. “The guy just doesn’t resonate. He doesn’t speak to the people that well. And Sean Hannity endorsed me, and Dr. Sebastian Gorka endorsed me.”
“As words of his past come out, people see that he’s the ‘same-old, same-old,’ and people are tired of that.”
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