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press Archive for: September 2006
Democratic attorney general candidate David Van Os stops in Midland
posted by snarko on September 22 2006
by Colin Guy :: Midland Reporter-Telegram
David Van Os, the Democratic candidate for Attorney General, vowed during a stop in Midland to combat corporate malfeasance, derail the Trans-Texas Corridor and return the government to the people by riding a wave of anti-incumbent sentiment into office.
Van Os, a labor lawyer who practices in San Antonio, made Midland his 205th stop in a series of speeches he plans to give at every county courthouse in the state. Van Os told the audience gathered Thursday afternoon Article 4, Section 22 of the state's constitution vests the attorney general with the responsibility of restraining private corporations from violating anti-trust statutes and other laws, which he said currently are not being enforced by incumbent Greg Abbott.
"We don't have to sit idly by while runaway corporate greed runs roughshod over everybody's standard of living," Van Os said, later citing high utility bills brought about by industry deregulation and high insurance costs as examples.
Van Os described large corporations as speeders and the public officials responsible for ticketing them as unwilling to even bother using their radar guns. The reason for this complacency, he said, is in part because these same corporations are significant contributors to Abbott's campaign and the campaigns of other high-ranking state politicians.
"Politicians in the highest levels of government, with their responsibility and tools of office to protect the people, are not doing it because they've actually been purchased by special interests," Van Os said.
If elected, Van Os said one of his primary goals would be to attempt to halt the development of the Trans-Texas Corridor which he said is "a monstrosity, because it's going to take away hundreds of thousands of acres of private land and property through forcible eminent domain."
Van Os said European corporations will profit from the development of tolls along the corridor and in his opinion it is unconstitutional for public land to be taken for private profit. He said the seizure of lands by eminent domain also will establish a precedent that will pave the way for similar actions in the future.
He said he is confident he has a chance of being elected because he feels Texas residents, both Republicans and Democrats, are weary of incumbents who rely on opinion polls and political consultants to get elected and are ready for a candidate who will make decisions based on what he feels is right and wrong.
"The political history in Texas goes in long, 20-to-25-year cycles and the way I read it is the people of Texas will go through a long period of time where they're forgiving of those in office and they're very complacent," Van Os said, adding this encourages incumbents to become lax in their duties and their dedication to public service. "There always comes a time where something sparks and a critical mass is reached and the people decide to clean house. We're in one of those times now, there's no doubt about it."
Van Os will face Abbott, who has received the Republican nomination for the office, in the Nov. 7 general election. Abbott is running on a platform touting the successes his administration has made combating child predation, forcing scofflaws to pay their child support and enforcing open government legislation. Abbott defeated Van Os in a Texas Supreme Court election in 1998.
AG candidate blows through the Basin
posted by snarko on September 21 2006
Democrat also defending Odessa man?s estate
Staff :: Odessa American
Democrat candidate for Texas Attorney General, David Van Os, is in the midst of a 254-county whistle-stop tour of Texas. He'll be in the Permian Basin today through Friday.
Van Os owns a law firm in San Antonio where he defends constitutional law, labor and civil rights.
Van Os is also defending the estate of an Odessa man - since died - who was suing Medical Center Hospital in a labor dispute.
In a civil suit filed in March 2001 in the Midland federal court, former Medical Center Hospital employee Urbano Herrera claimed his free speech and due process rights were violated in 1999 when Medical Center Hospital suspended him for three days for wearing a 'Union Yes' button.
In December 2004, three circuit court justices ordered MCH to pay Herrera's legal expenses, in addition to its own, in a case expected to cost the hospital district nearly $350,000.
The case is now awaiting a decision from the entire 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Abbott regrets silicosis actions
posted by snarko on September 21 2006
AG's office tells Judge Jack it should have sought OK before taking X-rays in case
by Jaime Powell :: Caller-Times
The Texas attorney general's office has apologized to U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack for seizing thousands of X-rays, some of which now are missing, that are central to a federal investigation into potentially fraudulent diagnoses of the lung disease silicosis.
Abbott's office, along with a congressional committee and the U.S. attorney's office, opened investigations after Jack issued a landmark opinion last year that the majority of more than 10,000 silicosis lawsuits before her were about litigation for financial gain rather than medical care.
On July 5, armed agents from Abbott's office, subpoena in hand, seized the X-rays from the storage facility without Jack's approval and threatened to arrest storage supervisor Gary Cosgrove if he did not surrender them.
Jack ordered the X-rays returned and said their removal could be a criminal matter.
After Abbott's office returned them and it was discovered that 152 were missing, Jack followed up with an August court order seeking the names of the persons responsible for pulling the records out of her jurisdiction. She also granted permission for lawyers in the case to proceed with discovery they deem necessary to determine who in the attorney general's office had access to the documents.
In a letter to Jack dated Sept. 5, Abbott's office apologizes for the "confusion and misunderstandings" that the seizure caused, and noted that the attorney general's office should have sought approval from Jack before taking the X-rays.
"Not seeking prior leave of this Court was an error, and for that the Office of the Attorney General apologizes," the letter states.
Senior lawyers who were directing the investigation believed that approval from Jack had been sought, the letter continues. Abbott's officers were joking when they threatened to arrest Cosgrove, the letter said. Officers were told to collect the documents only if there was no objection from records custodians.
The decision to seize the X-rays was a collective decision between Jay Kimbrough, the attorney general's former director of the Office of Special Investigations and Deputy Attorney General Don Clemmer, according to the letter.
The two men were relying on information from Adrienne McFarland, attorney general's division chief for the Criminal Law Enforcement Division, and Lance Kutnick, the lawyer responsible for handling the case, the letter states.
The attorney general's office submitted sealed affidavits from each of the four detailing the chronology and the communications between the attorney general's staff members that led to the final decision to take custody of the documents, the letter said.
None of the four were available for comment Tuesday. Nor was Jack.
Attorney general spokesman Jerry Strickland said he would not offer further comment and the letter speaks for itself.
AG candidate Van Os makes 'whistle-stop' in Kaufman
posted by snarko on September 11 2006
by Silver Hogue:: Terrell Tribune
KAUFMAN - Democratic candidate for Texas attorney general David Van Os spoke to Kaufman County residents Tuesday while on the road for his statewide "whistle-stop tour."
Dressed in his signature uniform of black cowboy boots, a black leather vest and a Stetson, Van Os gave a quick speech to area residents outside the Kaufman County Courthouse.
His campaign strategy is to visit all 254 county courthouses in Texas before the November election. Speaking in the most public of places to whomever will listen, he encourages people to fight back by restoring democracy and government to the people.
"It's time for people to fight back against the big oil companies, insurance monopolies, political power grabbers, robber barons and other corporate and political elites who are rampaging against democracy and against the rights and liberties of the people," Van Os said emphatically.
He said rural, small-town Texas is being left behind in the political process. He added that political consultants and pundits measure success according to how much fund-raising a candidate can do instead of their values.
"Greed for money is a poison that corrupts our entire political system," Van Os said.
He said large corporate donors are buying protection from the candidates who then ignore their sworn duty to meet the people's needs.
He vowed to "go after" the major oil companies for violations of the Texas antitrust statutes, which are even older than the federal antitrust laws. Van Os said he believes Texas should lead the way to protect residents from high energy prices caused by mergers that have reduced competition.
"There is a difference between reasonable profit in a healthy, free-enterprise system and greed gone crazy," Van Os said.
He also pointed out that the same antitrust statutes can be used to go after large insurance companies to ensure Texans pay a fair price for their homeowners insurance.
"We have the power to fight back," Van Os said. "People all over this state know government has been stolen."
Van Os, who owns and manages David Van Os and Associates P.C., in San Antonio, promised the crowd that, if elected, he will keep the Trans-Texas Corridor from "tearing up hundreds of thousands of acres of Texas agricultural farmland".
He said that if the project is completed, it will be "one of the biggest single exercises of forcible eminent domain in the history of the entire United States."
"It will be a green light and private property will lose its sovereignty," Van Os said. "This forcible eminent domain will destroy the proper balance between the individual and government with respect to the individual's ability to control his or her own property."
He also called incumbent Greg Abbott "nothing but a partisan Rick Perry mouthpiece".
"I'm not going to let a bunch of arrogant politicians and bureaucrats tear up our farmland so they can cater to the greed of fat cats who gave huge campaign contributions," he said. "As attorney general, I'll fight this land grab until hell freezes over, then I'll fight it on ice."
Van Os on a whistle stop tour
posted by snarko on September 11 2006
by Jonathan Blundell :: Waxahachie Daily Light
Democratic nominee for attorney general, David Van Os made a campaign stop in Ellis County on Friday afternoon, announcing his intentions to go after the Trans-Texas Corridor, big oil, big insurance and corporate monopolies.
Van Os is visiting each of the state's 254 counties between now and Election Day, with Ellis County being his 174th stop of the tour.
In each county, Van Os is filing a sworn affidavit with the county clerk promising to "use every means available" to stop the Trans Texas Corridor.
"Article 4, Section 22 of the Texas Constitution places on the attorney general the duty on behalf of the people, to prevent and restrain any private corporation from demanding or collecting any species of toll not authorized by law," Van Os said. "If elected, I solemnly promise that I will use every legal means available to me by that office to bring to a halt the unconstitutional and illegal project known as the Trans-Texas Corridor."
Van Os also cited Article 1, Section 10 of the United States Constitution, saying the state violated the U.S. Constitution by entering into an agreement or compact with a foreign nation or state.
While the Ellis County clerk's office was closed before Van Os arrived Friday afternoon, his wife said the affidavit would be mailed and filed first thing Monday morning.
Van Os made clear to the crowd that while many have claimed the Trans-Texas Corridor is irreversible, every law ever passed can be rescinded.
"I assure you that the Trans-Texas monstrosity is unconstitutional," Van Os said. "The citizen is privy to due process and if you don't want to sell your property, the Texas Department of Transportation can take your property before you have your day in court. As AG I will use every legal means to stop it."
Van Os also plans to change politics as usual to restore the public's trust in state government.
"I'm talking about restoring the real roots of Texas politics," Van Os said. "The attorney general is sitting on a campaign bank account of $7 million. You'll find a lot of $10,000, $25,000 and $50,000 donations in his campaign. Do you really believe that's individuals and companies doing that out of a civic sense of responsibility?"
Frustration over Austin politics led Van Os to run for attorney general.
"Four months ago I was speaking about how frustrated I am about the way our political process has gotten so self absorbed in those ivory towers," Van Os said. "Politicians are out of touch and I came to the conclusion that I can think about it till doomsday and it won't change anything. So I decided to come to the county courthouse of every single county in our state. The government must reach out to the public. I'm talking to whomever I can talk to and listening to whomever I can listen to. The political process has to get out of the oak-paneled conference rooms and ivory towers and get out in front of the people."
While most Texans are wonderful people and the average Texan will give their neighbor the shirt off their back, Van Os said the current elected officials are a "group of corrupt, greedy, ignorant individuals."
"They're out of character with the great mass of people in this state," Van Os said. "There's a common denominator everybody knows - things are off track. Our government is being run by greedy crooks that are there to take care of themselves and their cronies, not the people. We are living under a reign of greed when they're talking about tearing up farms that are feeding millions of people in one of the most dynamic cases of greed in this state."
Van Os encouraged those gathered Friday afternoon to exercise their rights on Nov. 7 and fire those currently in office.
"Democracy works, I believe it with all my heart," Van Os said. "And something wonderful happens every other year on the second Tuesday of the 11th month. We get to fire the people for not doing their job. Your voter's registration card is your property deed. Don't let anyone squash the right to your property. It's time to exercise your own rights to your own property."
After the stump speech, Van Os said he was determined not to become a typical Texas politician.
"I'm absolutely determined to not turn into an ivory tower politician," Van Os. "I don't accept any campaign contributions from lobbyists or corporate political action committees. And I won't."
Van Os also said he would maintain an open door policy for the people of Texas.
"When I'm attorney general I'm going to set aside at least one day a week for individuals to schedule appointments with me," Van Os said. "I love my state. And with a full time job as attorney general it can be very difficult to get out and reach the people like we're doing now but this is the spirit with which I intend to conduct my office."
Finally, Van Os said he would use his power as attorney general to fight against big oil, insurance and monopolies.
"There are millions of Texans that are struggling to cover the high cost of gasoline and oil companies continue to bring in huge net profits," Van Os said. "The CEOs of oil companies and politicians want us to believe prices are controlled by mysterious market forces. Yet during the last two general elections the price of gasoline has gone down two months before the election. The main thing those robber barons depend on is that we won't put up a fight. I want them to know what's coming. I'm coming after you on Jan. 1, once I'm sworn in."
Campaign trail brings Van Os to Gainesville
posted by snarko on September 11 2006
by Andy Hogue :: Gainesville Daily Register
Rocking the boat is not something this candidate is ashamed of doing.
David Van Os, the Democratic nominee for Texas Attorney General, said in a speech from the Cooke County Courthouse Wednesday afternoon the nature of the attorney general's job is to "shake things up" and challenge wrongdoing in business and in governmental affairs.
Alternating from comments on the alleged influence of large oil and insurance corporations on government to his opposition to the Trans-Texas Corridor, Van Os rallied a group of about 30 Democrats and curious county office workers on the shaded and recently renovated east side steps of the courthouse. His campaign team brought in hand-drawn protest signs for the audience to hold.
He also discussed the nature of the attorney general's office and cited certain powers granted to it by the Texas Constitution.
In his speech, Van Os said Texas government has "gotten off track" in many ways, beginning with several criticisms of Trans-Texas Corridor 35, a proposed multi-lane, multi-modal, quarter-mile-wide toll highway planned to span the area between Laredo and Gainesville.
Van Os said the plan would "scar the land." He said the plan calls for foreign ownership.
"The profit would go to a greedy corporation from Europe, and not even leave the money circulating in the Texas economy," he said. "... There's something drastically wrong with that."
He said the project would be the largest instance of the state using eminent domain authority.
"Although you are in the bulls-eye beam of this monstrosity, you are not alone in this fight. Everyone is against this," he said.
He said TTC-35 would "fundamentally alter checks and balance system between individuals and the state," as did the recent federal Supreme Court decision Kelo vs. Connecticut which ruled property may be taken by the government for economic development purposes.
"I mean what I say when I fight the Trans-Texas Corridor," Van Os said, holding papers in his hand.
In a rare move for a candidate, Van Os presented an "affidavit for public record" listing opposition to TTC-35, the taking of private land for private sector development and corporate monopolies.
He recruited the services of Vicki Barnes, Commissioners Court secretary and a registered notary public, to sign and stamp the affidavit. He later filed the affidavit with the County Clerk's office, and answered questions about the state of the state child support enforcement system.
Van Os said he advocated decentralizing the state bureaucracy and relegating enforcement and administration to the county level.
He said he has visited 168 out of 254 courthouses in Texas, and plans to visit even tiny Loving County in West Texas.
The candidate said greeting the people of Texas is more important to him than fund raising. He decried the major media outlets' coverage of campaigns, saying that most political reporters focus on the amount of money raised by a candidate as an indicator of their likelihood of winning an election.
"This is a constitutional democracy, and we have the power," he said. "There is no politician that can't be fired."
According to a press release from the campaign, Van Os was born and raised in Kilgore and attended the University of Texas on scholarship and received his law degree from in 1976. He now owns his own law firm in San Antonio where he practices constitutional law, labor and civil rights.
Van Os was the general counsel for the Texas AFL-CIO labor union from 1983-89.
FULL STORY >>
State AG candidate blasts Trans-Texas Corridor
posted by snarko on September 11 2006
by David Doerr :: Waco Tribune-Herald
The Democratic candidate for state attorney general pledged on the steps of the McLennan County Courthouse Friday to oppose the Trans-Texas Corridor if he's elected in November.
After a 30-minute speech in which he blasted incumbent Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot and other state Republican leaders, David Van Os put his pledge on record at the McLennan County Clerk's office in the form of a sworn affidavit. In the affidavit, he promised to "use every legal means available to me by (the office of attorney general) to halt and/or invalidate the unconstitutional and illegal... Trans-Texas Corridor."
It was the 171st time Van Os has given such a speech and filed the affidavit at a county clerk's office this year as Van Os has traveled across the state on a "whistle-stop tour." If elected, he said he plans to investigate the activities of large oil and insurance companies for possible antitrust violations.
Van Os repeatedly hammered the $7 billion Trans-Texas Corridor project, which he said is illegal because it would use the power of eminent domain to enrich private companies that would build and operate the tollway.
Van Os also said Abbott, who has served as Texas attorney general since December 2002, has served the interests of the Republican leadership rather than Texas citizens.
FULL STORY >>
Van Os makes local whistle stop in election campaign
posted by snarko on September 11 2006
by Jerrie Whiteley :: Herald Democrat
Calling on Texans to help him bring Texas out of an age of greed, Democrat David Van Os, brought his "whistle stop" campaign for Texas attorney general to Sherman Wednesday.
Standing near the steps of the Grayson County Courthouse, dressed in a button-down blue shirt, a black vest, a white hat and light colored pants, Van Os said his victory in the race will spell doom for the "robber barons" in the oil and insurance industries.
He said he plans to try to break up the mega monopolies that are practicing in Texas in what he called a violation of the Texas constitution. Van Os said the actions of those companies and the politicians they support has led to "an age of greed" that is unlike any seen in recent memory. He said the state has laws against such centralization of economic, and therefore political power, but no one seems to want to use them.
Van Os vowed he will use those laws to go after those industries if he is elected.
The power of the state of Texas, Van Os said, belongs to the people of the state of Texas. It is theirs to take back and Van Os said he hopes they will join him in a fight for a return to democracy.
The San Antonio attorney who specialized in labor law reminded those who attended his rally in Sherman that people in the state of Texas can't afford gas for their vehicles, insurance for their homes or health insurance for themselves. He said that puts Texans in a bind that they should be able to look to their attorney (general) to help them escape. However, Van Os said, contributions from big companies have made many politicians resistant to the call to take industry to task.
Van Os vowed not to join the "silk-stocking social clique that runs Texas government as if it were their private club," if elected. He said he will fight against them to help Texans get some relief.
Van Os also said he plans to fight against the Trans Texas Corridor. He said many Texas politicians would like the residents of Texas to believe that the TTC is "done deal."
Not so, said Van Os. He said the state doesn't have "a law that can't be repealed or an elected official that can't be voted out of office." Van Os urged people to keep fighting the issue "till hell freezes over and then continue to fight it on the ice." He said the TTC plans to tear up thousands of acres "of the best farm land" in the state and put the land once used to feed millions "in the hands of foreign company that will take the toll money and send it back" to its country of origin.
FULL STORY >>
Van Os Wants Change in Texas AG Office
posted by snarko on September 10 2006
by Roy Maynard, Tyler Morning Telegraph
Voters in the United States have a unique opportunity every two years, Texas attorney general candidate David Van Os says: the chance to fire politicians.
"Every even-numbered year, people have the opportunity to review the performance of their public officials," he said in Tyler on Monday. "And firing day is coming on Nov. 7."
Van Os, a San Antonio attorney with East Texas roots, is the Democratic nominee for the position. He faces incumbent Greg Abbott, a Republican, in the general election. Libertarian Jon Roland is also on the ballot.
Van Os said that political commentators have cast doubt on his chances in November.
"But look at Harry Truman," Van Os said. "Pundits and pollsters said Harry Truman couldn't win. He said to heck with them, and he started off on a whistle-stop tour. And the people handed him an upset victory."
Van Os said he's in the same position.
"I'm not Harry Truman, but on a smaller scale, I'm in the same boat," he said. "The pundits and pollsters and ivory-tower consultants in Austin tell me I can't win. I say baloney. I believe in democracy. I believe it works."
Running a statewide campaign takes commitment to the democratic process, he said.
"If I didn't believe in it, I wouldn't be putting the wrecking ball to my family life and putting the wrecking ball to my small law practice," he said.
He's not "sitting in a quiet room calling people with big checking accounts," Van Os said, because that's not how the process should work.
"I'm at the Smith County Courthouse because the courthouse is the seat of government in Texas," he said. "It's the symbol of government of the people, by the people and for the people."
That's why he's visiting all 254 county courthouses in Texas on this tour, scheduled to end Oct. 10.
"I'm bringing a message straight from my heart," he said. "We are living in an (administration) of greed. You see it everywhere, greed and arrogance."
That's shown in the Trans-Texas Corridor project advocated by Gov. Rick Perry, he said.
"They want to tear up some of the best agricultural land in American so that greedy hogs can make billions of dollars from Texans who are driving on their own highways," Van Os said. "It's intolerable. The people of Texas can't stand for it. People are up in arms about it, but the bureaucrats are turning a deaf ear to them."
He pledged to oppose the project.
"When I become attorney general, I will do everything I can to block it," he said.
Van Os filed an "affidavit for public record" at the Smith County Courthouse promising to "use every legal means available to me by that office to bring a halt and/or invalidate the unconstitutional and illegal project known as the Trans-Texas Corridor."
And he will defend consumers against corporations, he said.
"The giant oil companies are bringing in profits so high that the mind cannot comprehend them," Van Os said. "The mind can't imagine $3 billion a month. At the same time, millions of Texans are struggling every day to make their incomes stretch to cover fuel at nearly $3 per gallon."
He called oil company and insurance company executives "robber barons."
"We can fight back," he said. "This is still a democracy. Right now, (Republican officials) are protecting corporations from the people, when they are supposed to protect people from corporations."
The attorney general should be the people's lawyer, Van Os said.
"And this year, we're going to hire a new one," he said.
AG hopeful looks for votes in Kerrville
posted by snarko on September 10 2006
Staff :: Kerrville Daily Times
David Van Os, Democratic candidate for Texas attorney general, was in Kerrville Thursday as part of his whistle-stop tour to courthouses in all 254 Texas counties before the November elections. The crowd that came to hear him in front of the Kerr County Courthouse was not large, but it was warm and receptive.
Van Os lambasted oil and insurance companies, which he characterized as "robber baron monopoly powers." Oil companies, he said, represented themselves as subject to "magical, mysterious market forces" beyond their control.
"Any moment," Van Os said, "I expect some CEO to say, 'We'd like to give the money back to the people, but the government won't let us.'"
Van Os is taking on not only large companies and incumbent Greg Abbott, but also his own party hierarchy.
"I have a real gripe with the ivory tower consultants who have been running the Democratic party in Austin," Van Os said. "They have been ignoring rural Texas. I'm determined to open the political process to all the people of Texas."
In response to a question about the Trans Texas Corridor, Gov. Rick Perry's proposed toll road and rail system that would carry traffic from Oklahoma to Mexico, Os was blunt. "[It] is one of the worst eruptions of greed and corruption in the history of the state," he said. "It can be stopped. The attorney general is supposd to prevent any private corporation from collecting tolls. These tolls are to be managed and collected by a company in Spain."
[Editor note: the candidate has stated this story contains an important error. The Constitution requires the AG to stop any private corporation from WRONGFULLY collecting any toll, not collecting any toll in general. Author has been contacted.]
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