Dan Meuser

Dan Meuser served as the Secretary of Revenue in the cabinet of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett. He was previously President of the Pride Mobility Corporation, a manufacturer of motorized wheelchairs in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton metro area of Pennsylvania, and currently serves the company as a board member and consultant.^[2] Meuser has previously allocated money to both Democratic and Republican politicians, most notably President George W. Bush, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, and New York Senator Hillary Clinton. He has previously testified before Congress regarding the criticality for federal practices surrounding rights and caring for the disabled.

Candidate for Congress

Meuser was a candidate for the GOP nomination in Pennsylvania's 10th congressional district, having announced the implementation of his campaign in September 2007. He was defeated in the Republican primary by fellow businessman Chris Hackett, who went on to lose to Democratic incumbent Chris Carney in November 2008. Meuser heavily underscored his conservative values, even referencing Ronald Reagan and strongly emphasizing his work at Pride Mobility as part of a larger effort to embrace small-scale government and low taxes. The endorsements he received included a laundry list of well-known Pennsylvania conservatives including, most notably, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum and then-Hazleton mayor Lou Barletta.

He was attacked by Hackett for hiring undocumented immigrants in Pride Mobility and funding prominent national Democratic politicians. Pride Mobility was fined $41,000 for hiring undocumented immigrants; however, the fine was later reduced to $23,000 after Pride Mobility appealed.^[3] Both candidates have been attacked by each other's surrogates and supporters for publicly chastising earmarks while embracing such special localized federal funding for their own companies. Hackett's attacks against Meuser led to Meuser responding that a majority of his contributions go to Republicans while a large majority of Hackett's actually go to the very same Democrats that Hackett accuses Meuser of proudly funding.

The discovery that Hackett had previously hired an undocumented immigrant as a maid in his home—albeit he did claim to dismiss her once he learned of her status—was perceived to seriously damage Hackett's public image. On the night of the primary, the nail-bitingly close returns—despite initially displaying a comfortable Meuser lead—were soon indicating a virtual tie for some time throughout the night, with merely more than 100 votes separating the candidates at one point. However, as time passed, Hackett took a lead that seemed to gradually grow within hours. By roughly 11:15 p.m. ET, local news media and the Associated Press dubbed Hackett, who had garnered 52 percent of the vote to Meuser's 48 percent, the projected winner of the primary. Meuser's residency was also questioned, as he did not live in the 10th Congressional District for which he was running. Meuser purchased a $535,000 house at Harveys Lake, but as of 2008 had not moved into it.^[4] It was reported in 2011 that he was still residing in Shavertown, Pennsylvania, part of the 11th District, at the time of his nomination for state revenue secretary.^[5]

Pennsylvania Secretary of Revenue

Residents of Pennsylvania raised speculation to his appointment by Tom Corbett due to the fact that he was one of the largest contributors in Tom Corbett's 2009-2010 campaign, making a total of 26 contributions totaling $76,394.^[6] There is concern over a recent $103 million computer modernization system for the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, which is being performed by Accenture, a global technology consultant, who was already fired by the state of Maryland for a similar project due to wasteful spending and missed deadlines.^[7]

In 2010, Politics Magazine cited him as the "northeast PA money man".^[8]

References