| ELECT THE PEOPLE'S LAWYER: David Van Os, Democrat for Texas Attorney General |
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
||
| ||||
| ||||
|
1. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution -- Honors the American and Texan Declarations of Independence and the American and Texas Constitutions as the greatest and most successful universal statement of values ever devised by humanity for the protection of civil liberty and democracy; treats the Constitution as the highest law, to be considered paramount at all times 2. Democracy -- Says the statement that "government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed" in the Declaration of Independence is one of the most revolutionary human statements ever made and represents one of the greatest and noblest visions ever laid out for human social organization; seeks fulfillment of the vision of democracy in all matters; insists that government belongs to the people; personally visited every county in Texas (total of 254) in this campaign because of his conviction that government and the political process must include all the people of Texas 3. Attorney General's Constitutional duties -- Recognizes that the primary Constitutional and legal duties of the Attorney General are to serve as the legal champion of the people as individuals, citizens, consumers, and taxpayers; and pledges publicly to do so; pledges to get rid of political grandstanding in the Attorney General's office 4. Trans-Texas Corridor -- Strongly opposes it; has filed public oaths to use all available legal means as AG to bring it to a halt; has been endorsed by Texas Toll Party and San Antonio Toll Party 5. Gasoline prices -- Publicly says to Big Oil: "I'm coming after you;" pledges to use antitrust laws, consumer protection laws, anti-price gouging laws, and all other available means to take on the mega-huge oil corporations and obtain relief for the people of Texas from outrageous prices 6. Eminent domain -- Proposes a Texas Constitutional amendment to prohibit use of eminent domain unless public safety or security is at stake; has filed public oaths to protect the integrity of private property; strongly opposes the Trans-Texas Corridor as a monstrous abuse of eminent domain 7. Rural Texas -- Pledges to restore respect for rural Texas in politics and government; personally visited and met the public at the county courthouses of every county in Texas in his 254-county whistlestop tour over six months; supports fair play for family farmers and ranchers; pledges to search for relief from the unfairness of unfunded mandates imposed on county governments by the state; is endorsed by the United Farm Families political action committee 8. Insurance rates and practices -- Pledges to take all available legal actions under consumer protection and other Texas laws to reform the outrageous rates and practices of the insurance giants; is endorsed by Policyholders of America 9. Utility rates and practices -- Pledges to take all available legal actions to reform the outrageous rates and practices of "deregulated" private utility barons 10. Second Amendment -- Staunchly supports the right of the people to keep and bear arms; received "A" rating from the NRA; has filed public oaths to uphold and enforce the Second Amendment 11. Toll roads -- Opposes government forcing toll roads on the people; proposes a Texas Constitutional amendment to require a county-wide referendum vote before any toll road can be constructed; is endorsed by Texas Toll Party and San Antonio Toll Party 12. Water piracy -- Pledges to protect the people from profiteers who seek to privatize public water resources and raid private water resources 13. Corporate monopolies -- Has filed public oaths to uphold and enforce the promise of the Texas Bill of Rights that monopolies shall never be allowed 14. Corporate robber barons -- Pledges to do the real job of the Texas Attorney General under the Texas Constitution to protect the people against corporate robber barons that prey on the public through monopoly power and otherwise; pledges to reorganize the Attorney General's office to create the People's Watchdog Division to vigorously enforce our antitrust laws, consumer protection laws, anti-price gouging laws, and the people's rights to protection under the Texas Constitution 15. Civil Rights and Equal Justice for All -- Says the recognition in the American Declaration of Independence of universal rights to "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" is one of the most revolutionary human statements ever made and represents one of the greatest and noblest visions ever laid out for human social organization; seeks fulfillment of the vision of universal human rights in all matters; is a Life Member of the NAACP; has received Certificate of Achievement for accomplishments in Civil Rights from the NAACP; has successfully handled voting rights suits on behalf of LULAC 16. Constitutional rights and liberties -- Has filed public oaths to vigorously uphold and enforce all the enumerated rights and liberties of the U.S. and Texas Bills of Rights; has received Civil Libertarian of the Year award; pledges to take legal actions on behalf of the people of Texas to protect Texans from intrusions upon their Constitutional liberties by unconstitutional federal actions such as warrantless wiretapping of peaceable citizens without probable cause 17. Voting systems -- Says that electronic voting machines without individualized paper trails are unconstitutional under Article 6 of the Texas Constitution; pledges to declare such technologies unconstitutional as Attorney General; supports return to paper ballots for all elections 18. Immigration and the border -- Pledges to aggressively prosecute corporate employers who pay substandard wages to attract undocumented immigrant workers, because employers who do so undercut the wages and living standards of American citizens and legal residents, and because reducing the attraction is the only effective way to deter undocumented immigrants from entering Texas; opposes the construction of a wall or fence along the Rio Grande border because living behind a walled or fenced border would be contrary to the Texas spirit 19. Misuse of public authority for private gain -- Has filed public oaths to uphold and enforce the fundamental principle that public authority should never be used for special private gain; proposes a Texas Constitutional amendment that no property taken by government through eminent domain can ever be sold, leased, licensed, or in any manner turned over to private interests for profit or gain 20. Child support enforcement -- Pledges to treat individuals as human beings instead of as statistics for political grandstanding; pledges to apply the law fairly, impartially, and correctly to every person involved in the child support system; will immediately establish an ombudsman section of live persons to take hot line calls and to research and resolve problems; will convene a conference of interested local government officials during first year in office to consider options for revamping the whole system, with disbandment of the centralized bureaucracy and returning child support enforcement to county and district local governments for more responsive service as one of the options to consider 21. Public integrity -- Pledges to prosecute public corruption vigorously; will not tolerate fraud or corruption in public service or in elections; has filed public oaths that he will treat the position of Attorney General as one that he holds in trust for the exclusive benefit of the people and never as a personal domain or tool of personal advancement or gain 22. Labor laws -- Supports the universal rights of working people to fair treatment for a fair day's work; pledges to enforce Texas laws protecting the rights of working people to timely payment of their wages; pledges to enforce Texas laws protecting the legitimate rights to join and organize unions; pledges to enforce Texas laws protecting the prevailing wage rights of workers on public contracts; has served honorably as a lawyer for the Texas AFL-CIO and other labor unions; is endorsed by the Texas AFL-CIO and other labor organizations such as Communications Workers of America, Deputy Sheriffs Association of Bexar County, United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, International Association of Machinists, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Association of Sheet Metal Workers, United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, United Auto Workers, San Antonio Professional Fire Fighters Association, and Amalgamated Transit Union 23. Political candidates -- Believes political candidates should say what they mean and mean what they say; that they should speak from the heart; and that they should reject the use of slick marketing techniques; has filed public oaths in the public records of every County in Texas of his pledges to his fellow Texans because of his conviction that political candidates should talk straight and tell the voters exactly what they intend to do if elected 24. Political system -- Pledges to clean out corruption in politics; pledges to get rid of government by and for money and restore government by and for the people; does not accept campaign contributions from lobbyists or corporate political action committees; spends his campaign time meeting the public instead of raising money; doesn't use political consultants or slick television advertising; speaks from the heart and refuses to permit anyone to write scripts for him; says the best way to get rid of the influence of money in politics and government is for political candidates to reject the pursuit of money and trust democracy, and that the people need to demand this from the political system 25. Political parties -- Supports the existence of political parties as a means to organize and facilitate self-government and as a check and balance against autocratic government; is a lifelong Democrat because he believes in the historical values of his party and is proud of its heritage as the "party of the people"; but believes that the top levels of leadership of the Democratic Party became too cozy with big business over the last 30 years and too accommodating of self-promoters, elitists, and opportunists; opposes the culture of self-promotion and opportunism that currently dominates the major political parties at the top; says to his fellow Democrats that they need to view winning elections not as a game to put the most points on a political scoreboard, but as an obligation to assert leadership on behalf of all the people to restore government to the people; says to his fellow Democrats that their fellow citizens who have been voting Republican are not the enemy, and that they need to embrace them as fellow citizens to work together to restore government to the people; says there is more in common between grassroots Democrats and grassroots Republicans today than there is between the grassroots and the elite in either party; believes Texas' ballot access laws are too restrictive and anti-democratic, and would support efforts to make it easier for independent candidates and additional parties to obtain access to the ballot 26. Death penalty -- Supports the constitutional right of the people to enact proper laws providing for the execution of heinous criminals; but opposes as unconstitutional any proposal to extend the death penalty to cases where the crime did not result in a victim's death; is appalled by recent revelations that innocent persons may have been executed; thus believes our capital punishment trial procedures need to be reformed to help honest jurors achieve the greatest possible certainty before they sentence an accused person to death 27. Education -- Pledges to uphold the guarantee of Article 7, Section 1 of the Texas Constitution, which states: "A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the liberties and rights of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature of the State to establish and make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools;" says a school voucher plan would be unconstitutional because the Legislature's duty to support public schools prohibits it from diverting needed tax dollars to private schools, and says he will rule any such legislation unconstitutional; will not hesitate to take action as Attorney General if the present system continues to fail to provide first class schools for all Texas school children; says the Attorney General should have settled the recent school finance litigation instead of dragging it out in the courts |
Visit our CafePress Campaign Store All proceeds benefit the David Van Os for Attorney General campaign. GO >>
|
 |
|
|
