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(default) Archive for: October 2006
Abbott's Bogus Defense
posted by snarko on October 31 2006
PRESS RELEASE
"There is nothing more important to the Abbott administration than his name identification. It's all about him." ~Bill Burns, former Abbott videographer
Statement of David Van Os:
"Today's Austin American Statesman in a front page article by Laylan Copelin quotes Abbott's bogus defense to using state property for his campaign commercials: He made an open records request to himself and granted his request.
"Greg Abbott's four years as attorney general stand out as one long Halloween Day parade of masquerading as the state's lawyer while using state office to promote himself. As one of his former employees told the Statesman, 'There is nothing more important to the Abbott administration than his name identification,' Burns said. 'It's all about him.'
"The law is clear: he can't use state equipment or state employees for his political campaigns.
"And now as he offers his flimsy excuses, is he speaking as the state's lawyer or his own lawyer?
"Greg Abbott's time as attorney general has imposed a rampant conflict of interest on the people of Texas. When your lawyer has a conflict of interest it's time to fire that lawyer. Good people of Texas, the time has come to fire this unethical travesty of a lawyer and hire a new one. Greg Abbott has to go!"
Contact: Van Os office: (210) 225-1955
While Abbott tries to buy his election ...
posted by snarko on October 31 2006
PRESS RELEASE
While Abbott tries to buy his election, a young mother reveals his lies.
Statement of David Van Os:
"Greg Abbott keeps pouring his millions of special interest money into the airwaves to try to lie his way to re-election.
"But angry voters from all over Texas are flooding my office with calls to denounce Abbott's lies.
"One of the most gripping is a young mother from Hill County. When she called Abbott's office about his inaction in the case of her 5-year old daughter who had been molested, 'I was put through to his public spokesman who told me to just take my daughter to counseling and she'll do better with time.'
"The names of the young mother and her child are being withheld from this public release to protect their privacy. The media may contact my office or me for more detailed information."
Contact: Van Os office: (210) 225-1955
Hey Greg, WRONG is WRONG, LYING is LYING, and STEALING is STEALING
posted by snarko on October 28 2006
Prequel :: TV news story on WFAA-TV
by David Van Os
The "good guy" image of himself that Greg Abbott is spending millions of dollars to promote is phonier than a three-dollar bill. Beneath the glossy campaign ads, he's a thief and a hypocrite, and his claim to be such a nice guy is a pack of lies.
Abbott has been caught red-handed using film produced by state employees on state equipment and on state time in his campaign commercials and in his campaign website. WFAA-TV laid out the undeniable evidence in its 10:00 news on October 27. Anyone with an Internet connection can view the story at wfaa.com.
The WFAA report also reveals that Abbott set up an expensive video department in the AG's office on tax dollars so he could produce films for his grandstanding at the taxpayers' expense.
Greg Abbott is a state employee. State law prohibits state employees from using state resources for political purposes. It's stealing the taxpayers' money.
WRONG is WRONG, LYING is LYING, and STEALING is STEALING.
There's no difference between stealing a penny and stealing a dollar; cheating on a test or cheating in an election; little white lies or whoppers.
Greg Abbott has proven by this action and probably others, that he feels an entitlement to his public office, the state's and people's equipment, facilities and employees, as if it were all his personal property.
Greg Abbott is so sure of his entitlement to public office, he thinks he has a special privilege to steal public equipment and resources to promote himself. If he doesn't apply the law to himself, then he'll also selectively enforce the law -- and that is what he does.
He gives free passes to big campaign contributors through non-enforcement of consumer protection laws; but enforces the law vigorously against those who are defenseless and usually penniless.
He garnishes a child's bank account so he can get a statistic claiming he's collected child support -- by taking the money from the very child the money was intended for. The child is just a number, not even a name.
He calls himself the holy defender of the Ten Commandments while trampling on its injunctions not to steal, lie, or idolize himself.
In this campaign he calls himself the patriotic defender of the Pledge of Allegiance while disgracing our nation's fundamental value that government belongs to the people.
We the people have got to take our government back from corruption under any name, whether that's Greg Abbott, any other Republican, Democrat or Independent. The Law is the Law.
Van Os on Abbott Caught Stealing Taxpayer Money
posted by snarko on October 28 2006
Hey Greg, WRONG is WRONG, LYING is LYING, and STEALING is STEALING.
The "good guy" image of himself that Greg Abbott is spending millions of dollars to promote is phonier than a three-dollar bill. Beneath the glossy campaign ads, he's a thief and a hypocrite, and his claim to be such a nice guy is a pack of lies.
Abbott has been caught red-handed using film produced by state employees on state equipment and on state time in his campaign commercials and in his campaign website. WFAA-TV laid out the undeniable evidence in its 10:00 news on October 27. Anyone with an Internet connection can view the story at wfaa.com.
The WFAA report also reveals that Abbott set up an expensive video department in the AG's office on tax dollars so he could produce films for his grandstanding at the taxpayers' expense.
Greg Abbott is a state employee. State law prohibits state employees from using state resources for political purposes. It's stealing the taxpayers' money.
Hey Greg, WRONG is WRONG, LYING is LYING, and STEALING is STEALING.
There's no difference between stealing a penny and stealing a dollar; cheating on a test or cheating in an election; little white lies or whoppers.
Just like all the other insider politicians, Greg Abbott thinks he has an entitlement to his public office, as if it were his personal property.
Greg Abbott is so sure of his entitlement to public office, he thinks he has a special privilege to steal public equipment and resources to promote himself. If he doesn't apply the law to himself, then he'll also selectively enforce the law -- and that is what he does.
He gives free passes to big campaign contributors through non-enforcement of consumer protection laws; but enforces the law vigorously against those who are defenseless and usually penniless.
He garnishes a child's bank account so he can get a statistic claiming he's collected child support -- by taking the money from the very child the money was intended for.
He calls himself the holy defender of the Ten Commandments while trampling on its injunctions not to steal, lie, or idolize himself.
He calls himself the patriotic defender of the Pledge of Allegiance while disgracing our nation's fundamental value that government belongs to the people.
We the people have got to take our government back from the crooks. Greg Abbott is such a hypocrite it makes me want to throw up, and it's time the people throw him out of the office he is stealing from them.
VIDEO FROM WFAA >>
David Van Os on Abbott's Proposed Death Penalty for Child Sex Predators
posted by snarko on October 27 2006
While I support stiff penalties for sex predators, I am opposed to punishing a crime that did not result in a death with the death penalty. This makes me the exact opposite of Greg Abbott, who favors the death penalty for 'sex predators' even where the offense did not result in a death.
Applying the death penalty to a crime that did not result in death is disproportionate to the crime and thus unconstitutional in my opinion. Also, reserving the death penalty for homicides saves some crime victims' lives. Making non-homicide crimes subject to the death penalty will result in some criminals killing their victims where they might not have done so, since they have nothing further to lose by committing murder.
Abbott's position on this issue is typical of his grandstanding. It is also typical of the way he deals with families. In his administration of child support, for example, he does not care about the families who are involved in anguishing situations. He only cares about getting his statistics to use as political bragging points. In many sex crime cases the offender is a family member who needs treatment and cure. To apply the death penalty in such cases would only bring more anguish to already distressed families.
Families need help, Greg, not lethal injections.
Don't Build Walls; Just Enforce the Law!
posted by snarko on October 26 2006
The Bush administration prosecuted less than ten (10) employers nationwide last year for violating laws in the employment of undocumented immigrants. As a loyal Bush Republican, Greg Abbott does absolutely nothing about corporate employers who violate these laws.
Employers who pay substandard wages to attract undocumented immigrant workers harm everybody. (1) Those employers foster disrespect for the rule of law, (2) they undercut the wages and living standards of American workers, (3) they create unfair competition for law-abiding employers and workers, (4) they exploit the economic desperation of the undocumented immigrants, and (5) they place increasingly massive burdens on communities that are struggling to provide services.
The Texas Attorney General can do something about it. Twenty years ago Attorney General Jim Mattox aggressively enforced our laws and assessed severe penalties against employers who broke labor laws to attract and exploit undocumented workers.
But as a loyal Bush Republican, Greg Abbott does not believe in prosecuting corporations, so he does absolutely nothing about corporate employers who violate the law in the hiring and employment standards of undocumented immigrants.
David Van Os on Overhauling Child Support Enforcement
posted by snarko on October 10 2006
Throughout Greg Abbott's term as Texas Attorney General I've been appalled at his rank exploitation of children and human tragedies. During the nearly six months' time that I've been touring Texas and visiting with people in every part of our state, I have listened to many of my fellow Texans and learned many things about real people's real concerns. The time has come for me to speak out against Greg Abbott's outrageous exploitation of children for political purposes.
In the hands of Greg Abbott, the Texas child support enforcement program is primarily a source of statistics for him to use in order to congratulate himself in his frequent self-praising press releases. It is an outrage for this slick public relations hound of a politician to use children and distressed family situations in such a manner, and especially to do so on the taxpayers' dollar through the Attorney General's personal print shop.
Every day scores of people affected by the program -- both custodial and non-custodial parents -- experience crisis and panic because either (a) as a custodial parent they are not receiving their child support payments, causing severe economic distress for struggling single parents and their children, or (b) as a non-custodial parent they are erroneously classified as "deadbeats," causing the loss of liberty and/or devastating financial consequences when they are not in fact delinquent in their support obligations.
In case after case, the affected individuals make panicky calls to the Office of Attorney General to find resolution, but then sit through a series of automated voice-mail menus and cannot find anyone to help them. I know this because I have met many of these good Texans -- at almost every stop in my whistlestop tour of Texas, victims of Abbott's unresponsive system have approached me and pleaded for help. In 247 counties across the great state of Texas, not one time has anyone told me the system worked for THEM. The stories people have told me of being abused by a system that is supposed to provide sustenance for the children are appalling and consistently the same -- they were disrespected, insulted, demoralized and degraded. They are suffering and even worse, their children are suffering. If the Attorney General were doing his job the child support system would reunite more families, but instead they are ripped into further shreds and the emotional and financial damage caused by distressed relationships is further compounded.
Greg Abbott brags about statistics because statistics are all that is important to him; the individuals and their circumstances do not matter. Instead of working WITH parents to help them provide safe and loving environments for their children, regardless of the circumstances of their birth, Abbott chooses instead to use our society's tragic level of human anguish in these situations as a political bragging point that reflects the warped value system of an ambitious career politician for whom human beings are nothing more than fodder for his ambition. To cite the gross dollar amount of child support collected tells us nothing about how individuals are treated, it tells us nothing about the accuracy of collections, and in fact it tells us nothing about the percentage of debt owed that was collected. But it does tell us that the incumbent attorney general is a nonstop public relations machine and self-promoting career politician.
The child support enforcement program needs overhauling and with the help of other honest public servants I will overhaul it. Both parents matter in a child's life and as Attorney General I will do everything in my power to help these human beings through a painful and emotionally draining time by properly addressing each person's rights and responsibilities, instead of simply meeting the mandated "goals" while leaving a trail of human destruction from Texarkana to El Paso and from Dalhart to McAllen. This will be a long-range project and there is no immediate "quick fix", but I am equal to the task.
In my tour of Texas many conscientious local government officials have given me constructive ideas for possible solutions. Early in my term as attorney general I am going to convene a conference of interested local government officials from all over Texas, not to be lectured to, but to be listened to as we brainstorm together for long-range solutions. For example, it may be that some or all of the centralized bureaucracy in the Attorney General's office should be disbanded and some part or all of the program be returned to the counties and districts, where government is closer to the people and generally more responsive.
To deal with the immediate emergencies of the great number of individuals whose crises are not being addressed, when I take office I will immediately establish an office of live ombudsmen with the responsibility to talk to the callers in person and to follow through with rapid investigation and resolution of complaints. While Greg Abbott claims to have an ombudsman unit, the truth is that every caller who contacts the ombudsman division, if they can wade through the voice-mail menus, is immediately referred back to the child support unit where their problems began. Not on my watch.
When you pit one parent against the other in a manner that compounds the conflict, you cannot help but further wound the children involved. This must stop and it must stop now. It is my belief that most parents honestly and genuinely want to do right by their children. Under my administration, each and every parent will be afforded that opportunity to step to the plate, accept responsibility and work together to support their children in every way -- financially, emotionally, spiritually and physically.
Those parents who refuse to act in their children's best interests will be compelled to accept financial responsibility through the strict rule of law. If they are defiant of their responsibilities on my watch the official response will be extremely tough. But under Greg Abbott's administration, emotionally and financially distressed parents are not encouraged or given real opportunities to work together constructively for the sake of their children. All is fine with Greg Abbott as long as he gets the statistics he thinks he needs to promote his ambitious political career. Abbott's promotion of himself through the exploitation of children and human tragedies has to stop now. When I am Attorney General, children -- not politics -- will be the most important priority in child support enforcement.
It takes a lot more money to sell lies than it does to spread truth
posted by snarko2 on October 3 2006
Government is supposed to belong to all the people, therefore the political process has to include all the people, in every county of our state. That's why I'm spending from April to October personally visiting and speaking to the public at every one of the 254 county courthouses in Texas.
Under the Texas Constitution the people are entitled to a state attorney general who serves the public interest instead of special interests. The Texas Attorney General is the one state officer who under our Texas Constitution is most especially responsible to protect the people as citizens, consumers, taxpayers, and private property owners.
With his millions of dollars of campaign contributions from the wealthy and the privileged, the incumbent Rick Perry Republican attorney general, Greg Abbott, wants to purchase another four years to continue protecting the toll-road profiteers, the insurance companies, the oil companies, and corrupt politicians from the people.
This year the voters have a real choice for real change. I'm a fighting grassroots lawyer with 30 years of Texas courtroom experience, and I'm determined to protect the people from the corporate robber barons and political insiders instead of the other way around. When your lawyer has a conflict of interest you should fire him, and it's time for the people of Texas to fire Greg Abbott.
I'm tired of politicians talking out of both sides of their mouths. I'm filing my convictions and pledges in writing under oath, in public records, because my fellow Texans have a right to know exactly what I intend to do on their behalf. I want my fellow Texans to know that I mean what I say. To see my sworn pledges to my fellow Texans you may review my affidavit at this website.
It takes a lot more money to sell lies than it does to spread truth. I'll rely on the wisdom of the people in contrast to Greg Abbott's millions of dollars worth of slick television commercials. The people of Texas need a real lawyer to work for them for a change, not a slick public relations hound.
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