Friday, March 28, 2008

Chris Hackett has a Zoey Baird problem

They're everywhere.


After beating up Dan Meuser for the past week because Pride Mobility employed a few illegal immigrants a decade ago it has been revealed that Chris Hackett had one working in his home until last week. Like Zoey Baird he did not withhold Social Security or other payroll taxes and did not turn her in to the Feds.

Congressional hopeful says he discharged housekeeper after learning her status.

“People who hire help like housekeepers or yard workers generally don’t check if they are legally allowed to work in this country,” Hackett said. “Dan Meuser’s company got fined and the truth is that you only get fined if you knowingly hire illegal immigrants. I think that’s an important point here.”

Meuser’s campaign reacted strongly to the news about Hackett.

“Chris Hackett and his campaign have spent weeks attacking Dan Meuser, all the while concealing Hackett’s real record on illegals,” said Meuser campaign spokesman Eric Wallace. “Chris Hackett has displayed a pattern of hypocrisy throughout this campaign that the public is getting to see firsthand regarding this issue. It’s only a matter of time before Hackett brings his negative and hypocritical campaign to the airwaves, despite his promise to run a positive campaign.”


Anticipating this bad news I received this press release yesterday afternoon from the Hackett camp.


MORE QUESTIONS RAISED ABOUT MEUSER BUSINESS PRACTICES

Medicare Kickbacks, Software Piracy, Outsourcing Jobs At Issue


Dallas, PA – During the course of his campaign for Congress, Dan Meuser has repeatedly made an issue of his company’s business performance. By all accounts, Meuser’s company has been successful and is a significant employer in Pennsylvania, and he is to be commended for that.

However, Meuser seems to think the failings of his business are out-of-bounds for public discussion. He’s wrong. Voters deserve to know the truth about any illegal or otherwise questionable business practices.

Medicare Kickbacks

· Official testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance on April 28, 2004, indicates that Dan Meuser’s company “agreed to pay $80,000 to resolve its liability for violations of the kickback provision of the Civil Monetary Penalties Law.” The testimony of Dara Corrigan, Acting Principal Deputy Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, goes on to cite that “In Pennsylvania, an OIG investigation revealed that, through a marketing program, Pride Mobility Products Corporation, a manufacturer of power wheelchairs, scooters, and lift chairs, solicited and received monthly payments from supplies in return for referring sales leads to those suppliers.” The official testimony also states, “in addition to the payment under the settlement agreement, the company was also required to adopt and implement certain compliance measures.” (See attached testimony).

Questions: Will Dan Meuser release the terms of the settlement agreement in this Medicare kickback scheme? How else can voters know the extent to which Meuser’s violations harmed taxpayers who fund the Medicare program and seniors who depend on it?

Software Piracy

· Just last year, Dan Meuser’s company paid an enormous $380,000 fine to settle a software piracy case with the Business Software Alliance (BSA) (see “Software Group Ready to Levy Fines Against Pittsburgh’s Pirates,” Pittsburgh Business Times, 7/9/07).

The BSA notes that “Software piracy is against the law, costing millions of dollars in tax revenues and lost jobs. In 2005, the United States lost $6.9 billion as a result of software piracy (see Business Software Alliance press release, “BSA Issues an Alert to Pittsburgh Businesses,” 5/1/7). The Citizens Voice reported that Meuser’s company was fined for “unauthorized use of Adobe, Autodesk, Microsoft, and Symantec software,” (“Pride Pays Organization for Using Pirated Software,” The Citizens Voice, 6/30/07).

The Pittsburgh Business Times further noted on June 6, 2007, that “fines [for software piracy] can range anywhere from $5,000 into the millions, but average around $35,000.”

Questions: Why was Dan Meuser’s company forced to pay a software piracy fine that was more than 10 times the average size? Will Meuser release the legal records of this case that explain the full extent of the theft?


This race is starting to resemble the Democratic Presidential contest. The 2 candidates have very few policy differences so contrasts must be made in other ways.

29 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:43 AM

    I had the strangest dream last night.

    I dreamt that Chris Hackett admitted that he had employed a housekeeper who was an illegal immigrant.

    In the dream Hackett admitted that he paid this person "under the table", and he also admitted that he probably had employed numerous illegals through his company "One-Source Staffing".

    The funny part about the dream was that even with these admissions, and the already acknowledged "pay for play" arrangement with Senor Skrep, and the "One-Source" sponsored visit by "El Presidente",Hackett continues to blast Dan Meuser.

    It has to be a dream because in real life no one could be that dumb, or that much of a hypocrite...right?

    Oh well, time to get the morning paper.

    Sweet dreams Chris.

    Adios, ciao, ta-ta for now.

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  2. Anonymous7:52 AM

    The blogs have been true- good job Gort- hackett gets in trouble for admitting to an illegal worked in his home and his businesses (read the article) and then sends out a negative press release about his opponent. By the way all of this was already reported in newspapers and right here. This guy is running a negative campaign. He does not care one bit about the party. he is scum along with his campaign manager Dave "scorch the earth" maderia. I also say he is running a negative campaign because two nights ago I got push polled by hackett. For anybody who does not know what that is- they ask you who would you vote for if you knew- bad things about one candidate (Meuser) and good things about the other. hence the word push- move you toward the good candidate. It is the oldest and dirtiest trick in the book. Mr. Hackett I can not stand hipocrites but even less dirty lying people who will do anything to get what they want. i was speaking of you not Maderia

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  3. Anonymous7:53 AM

    Here's what yesterday was like at the Hackett headquarters:
    Chris: Hey Dave, I admitted to the Times Leader about the illegal at me house.
    Dave: OMG Chris!!! We need to get the attention back on Meuser.
    Chris: Well let's just rehash another bunch of old crap that's already been addressed and answered in the past 6 months.
    Dave: Good Idea Chris!! That's the only way we have a chance to get at least a few votes.
    Chris: I'm confident our friend Barry the psycho rug salesman will help us get votes too.
    Dave: Yes, then everything's good. We'll just sit back and wait for victory.

    Hey Chris and Dave, when this is all over, the morning of April 23 you two should start writing a book on "how to screw up a campaign that wasn't going too bad". At least you'll have that going for you

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  4. Anonymous10:19 AM

    The probelm is not that either of these guys employed illegal immigrants; it is that they are opposed to illegal immigration. Sheer hypocricy of course, but let's be realistic here. The entire debate is none but a game that is played out for political effect. Neither of these guys if elected is going to do a damned thing about the issue. So long as a Republican voter can recognize this game then he/she can vote for either candidate based on other issues but not on immigration, lest they be a fool. Bless these two gentleman and forgive them Lord, for they know not what they do--or do they????

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  5. Anonymous2:25 PM

    Knock 'em all you want but these two gentlemen have more class in one finger than carney has in his whole liberal body!!! I hate your blog and I hate everyone who reads it and agrees with you!!!

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  6. Anonymous3:48 PM

    Perhaps Mt Hackett really didn't know that his housekeeper was an illegal immigrant -- I can stretch credulity that far --, but what would explain his failure to withhold Social Security or other payroll taxes?

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  7. I challenge Damn Meuser to give us a list of laws he has not broken. Dan there must be at least one law of which you and Pride MOBility are not guilty.

    You try to smear Chris Hackett but who has Chris killed.

    By the way I do not dislike Dan Meuser. In fact the other night I gave directions to two of Dan's employees who got lost on the way to 33 East Third Street. Yeah Dan, I know all about their meeting with a discredited individual of Italian ancestry. But I helped them anyway. You owe me one.
    Best wishes,
    Barry O'Connell

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  8. Anonymous7:46 PM

    silly me. I thought Ramah was home scrubbing toilets and running the vacuum cleaner since she's been invisible in this campaign so far.

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  9. Can these two just get a room already? Sheesh.

    I wish someone would CGI some food onto those empty dinner plates in that Hackett commercial. Or is that Meuser? Ahhh, does it even matter?

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  10. Anonymous8:43 PM

    Wow wealthy people hire illegals to do their housekeeping, care for their kids, and their yard work! OMG, I had no idea!! Come the f*** off already! Take a look at around the Lake and up on Sutton Rd and I'm sure you'll find a hotbed of illegal activity. But it's the Valley, and guess what nothing is EVER going to change! It doesn't matter who wins, they are all the same regardless of what they or their people say, and the folks of the Valley will vote like they always do...uninspired.

    And please, this isn't the 1950's or haven't your Elephant arse loven fools noticed? The wives can be anywhere THEY choose to be let these two guys so full of s*** clean their own dam toilets.

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  11. They both have that robotic Romno-bot look about them.

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  12. Anonymous8:47 PM

    Barry, You're a riot. If you weren't such a twit people might take you seriously.
    What do losers like you do when election season is over??
    For someone so "well connected" and so intellegent you really haven't made much of an impact on society have you?
    Yep, sad. I feel sorry for you

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  13. Anonymous8:51 PM

    robotic Romno-bot ?

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  14. Anonymous9:50 PM

    Whether or not wealthy people have "people" to do some chores is not the issue.

    The issue is someone running for a seat in congress who has pilloried his opponent for an issue that took place 13years ago, and did so knowing that he was vulnerable, more vulnerable, on the same issue.

    That my friends is just plain stupid,stupid and hypocritical.

    I did some quick research tonight, I went to the IRS web-site and looked up the rules on hiring and paying household help.

    There was a paragraph devoted to things you should do before hiring a domestic.

    Numero uno, that's number one for you english speakers, numero uno was "make sure the prospective employee has legal status", seems pretty straight forward to me.

    Was he or she in this country legally?

    Forget about the issue of taxes or 1099's, that will come out later, just determine if the person you are about to hire is here legally.

    Chris Hackett claims to be an expert when it comes to money matters, hell he's a lapsed CPA, he also runs a temp agency, he deals with these issues all day, every day, should be second nature.

    As I see it he is either lying or he is incredibly dumb...I'll wait for his answer.

    Adios Senor Chris, we hardly knew ye. Oh and good riddance Senor Maderia.


    Ciao for now.

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  15. Anonymous10:53 AM

    Kar,

    Do us all a favor and drop the Ciao, it doesn't make you seem worldly or unique, it makes anything you say sound like it's coming from an ill written soap opera programe.

    As for me I hear the sweet sounds of a Democrat in the 10th, fight away boys fight away!

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  16. Anonymous1:49 PM

    Anon,

    You wound me, you really do.

    Aloha

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  17. Both these guys claim to be tough on illegal immigration, and they "didn't know" they had them in their houses and businesses! These 2 jerkoffs should have the decency to just step down and stop campaigning! What FOOLS!!! Carney gets another term, simply because he's NOT DOING ANYTHING RIDICULOUSLY STUPID like these TWO KNUCKLEHEADS!!!!!!!!!!!

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  18. I think they both work for the Carney campaign!!!

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  19. Seriously, this is the stupidest thing I've ever seen! It's actually taking away from the Luzerne County corruption!

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  20. Anonymous6:17 PM

    Big Dan,
    I think you work for "I'm a stupid idiot INC." Your comments really never add anything or bring up any valid points or questions.
    The best part of all of this is people like you will crawl back into your caves when the election is over.

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  21. Anonymous4:07 PM

    Prefacing this by saying that A) I doesn't live in the 10th and B) I am not a Republican, seriously, you'd think a guy that runs a staffing agency, whose business is about hiring and all the things that go with it like background checks and such, would have some insight into hiring practices, wouldn't you? That means in my opinion he either A) doesn't keep real close tabs on what he's supposed to in his own business, or B) was careless, or C) knew and hired her anyway. No good options if you ask me...pick the lesser of 3 evils. I hope both campaigns see that building a wall and talking tough can't really address some of the real day to day situations tied to the immigration issue. I know in the 11th this is Lou's singular issues. I wonder if Hackett would have to pay a hefty fine in Lou's brave new world? Probably not because I have a feeling Lou would only look in obvious places for illegal workers, and not in his friends' and families' businesses...
    The day he fines another Barletta or another Hazleton patriarchy is the day I get a little more respect for him. Until then he has proven nothing.

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  22. So Chris Hackett's wife hired an illegal servant. Big deal!

    Hackett has not killed anyone while Meuser can not give a straight answer on how many people dead in his wake... 5 dead, 8 dead, 11 dead, Meuser is not saying.

    Houses burnt down, Hackett zero, Meuser 10 plus houses burnt.

    Hackett is a registered voter in the District, Meuser is not.

    Hackett lives in the District, Meuser does not live in the district.

    Hackett - no kickbacks or Medicaid Fraud, Meuser admits to kickbacks and Medicaid Fraud.

    Hackett's wife hired an illegal servant and Chris let her go when he found out. Dan Meuser used illegal Immigrants until he was busted by the Federal government and then had to pay one of the biggest fines in state history.

    Hackett respects women, Meuser has yet to fully explain the sexual lawsuit filled.

    Meuser hedged on Social Security in the debate and is endorsed by the enemy of Social Security Rick Santorum.

    Just what is conservative about killing the elderly, burning down their houses and striping us of Social security.
    Best wishes,
    Barry O'Connell

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  23. Anonymous12:09 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  24. Every time Ireally get to you guys you try to make me the issue. It is illegal to make false accusations about restraining orders. Because they are completely untrue you are in violation of the internet harassment law. But the real point is that in the Republican Primary the issue is not me and not even Chris Carney. The issue is the record, character, and Integrity of Meuser and Hackett.

    Dan Meuser has a long record of questionable Integrity.
    The Deaths,
    the Fires,
    The Fraud,
    The Kickbacks,
    The sexual discrimination,
    The Illegal immigrants

    This is not something I made up. It is something Dan Meuser needs to explain. If any of these things are untrue then let us know. If they are true stop telling lies about me to hide the truth.
    Best wishes,
    Barry O'Connell

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  25. Anonymous8:18 PM

    All right Barry...you can blow it off....and I won't make you the issue. But here's the problem I see with Hackett, and even you have to admit this...it's a pattern of no explanations followed by bad explanations. The Vincente Fox sponsorship question was mishandled. This illegal immigrant issue was handled poorly. He's a lousy politician. And anything having to do with labor with him is absolutely fair game since that's his business...although his wife has a nice set of tire tracks on her back now. Nothing is ever his fault it seems. Come to think of it, he's the kind of guy W would like to have in charge of the INS. If anything goes wrong he can blame the media or the Clintons (Note to all you Republicans out there...that is your textbook answer when there needs to be a scapegoat for something...anything.)

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  26. Keep it civil people. I hate to delete comments but the wives and kids are off-limits. So are accusations of criminal acts unless you can back it up.

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  27. pj, toss me an email:

    gort42@yahoo.com

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  28. Anonymous9:54 PM

    Barry,
    Hackett's housekeeper was there for a VERY, VERY long time. Probably longer than you've been in therapy. So don't make statements about him and his dealings if you don't know the truth. It's funny, it makes ALL of your statements look like they're a bunch of crap. Huh. I guess that explains it all.
    Gee barry, I hope you come in to NEPA for the election. I'd love to see you as a poll worker. "Vote for Hackett or I'll come after you!!!!" "I'll get ya!!!!"
    Why doesn't Hackett have your endorsement on his web site????

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  29. The issue is the record, character, and Integrity of Meuser and Hackett.

    Dan Meuser has a long record of highly questionable Integrity.
    The Deaths,
    the Fires,
    The Fraud,
    The Kickbacks,
    The sexual discrimination,
    The Illegal immigrants
    The $380,000 fine for software piracy

    This is not something I made up. It is something Dan Meuser needs to explain. If any of these things are untrue then let us know. If they are true stop telling lies about me to hide the truth.

    Now I find out that the Hackett family servant was illegal. I am shocked, saddened, and dishearten. Chris I feel has let us down. But how do we compare his serious offence to the incredibly long list of Meuser offences. Maybe the Feds need to prosecute Dan Meuser on a RICO because he certainly is stacking up the RICO predicates. Let us not forget his association with Mike Long.

    The way I have it figured Obama gets the nomination and gets slaughtered by John McCain. I worked for a 527 C last presidential. By the time they get done with Obama he will be the David Duke of Democratic politics. Thy will destroy him and as Obama tanks he might drag Carney down with him. After all how many times can we we hear the G__ damn America sermon? So while it seems hopeless a Republican just might have the chance to take the 10th back. But Meuser is so dirty that he makes Obama's pastor look respectable. Meuser is damaged goods. So is Chris Hackett the second coming of Ronald Reagan? Hardly, but he is less dirty than Dan Meuser and if Obama drags Carey down then Hackett has a chance. That is about the only scenario that gets the 10th back in the Republican column. If you let Carney win this time and he has the seat until he retires or goes for Governor or Senate.

    If you think I am wrong then explain where. If you think Meuser has a shot explain the scenario that gets him elected. how does a dirty character like Meuser beat clean respectable Navy Lt. Commander Chris Carney. Carney served with a friend of mine in Wolfowitz's office in the Pentagon. If there was dirt I would have found it by now. The worst I ever heard was that he voted for Nancy Pelosi. You may not like it but the average voter will take that over Meuser's record any day. Now Meuser has brought in hired gun Mike Long but it will take more than slick tricks and private detectives to get Carney.
    OK Meuser guys explain how your guy can win?
    Best wishes,
    Barry O'Connell

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