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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFormer HOUSE SPEAKER JIM WRIGHT denied TX voter ID card
FORT WORTH Former House Speaker Jim Wright was denied a voter ID card Saturday at a Texas Department of Public Safety office.
Nobody was ugly to us, but they insisted that they wouldnt give me an ID, Wright said.
The legendary Texas political figure says that he has worked things out with DPS and that he will get a state-issued personal identification card in time for him to vote Tuesday in the state and local elections.
But after the difficulty he had this weekend getting a proper ID card, Wright, 90, expressed concern that such problems could deter others from voting and stifle turnout. After spending much of his life fighting to make it easier to vote, the Democratic Party icon said he is troubled by what hes seeing happen under the states new voter ID law.
http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/11/02/5300503/voter-id-law-snags-former-house.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)He was the first Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives to resign from office because of scandal.
The unravelling of the Texas Democrat's 34-year congressional career began with a year-long House ethics committee investigation of his finances, which resulted in a finding that Wright might have violated House rules in 69 instances. The charges centered around $145,000 in possibly improper gifts Wright and his wife had received from a Fort Worth developer, and the profits from a collection of Wright's speeches that allegedly were sold in bulk in lieu of speaking fees that were limited by House rules.
Wright's personal scandal was supplemented by the May resignations of his chief aide (after a Washington Post interview with a woman brutally assaulted by the aide in 1973) and of House Democratic Whip Tony Coelho because of an unrelated financial controversy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/frenzy/wright.htm
John Barry wrote a book about the scandal.
RandySF
(59,414 posts)Newt Gingrich
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)blm
(113,110 posts).
elehhhhna
(32,076 posts)5OOk OPEN CREDIT LINE THEN HAS OTHER PEOLE PAY THE BILL? That Newt Blingrich?
Jenoch
(7,720 posts)from Minnesota was charged and punished with the same ethics vilolation at about he same time. To get around limits on speaking fees, they both sold bulk purchases of their books (the books were simply filled with copies of their speeches).
sulphurdunn
(6,891 posts)What does it have to with voter suppression laws in Texas?
LisaL
(44,974 posts)Now I know where the tea baggers got their inspiration!
dbackjon
(6,578 posts)Unless you are in favor of voter suppression please delete your non-germane post.
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)I think I'll plan on moving to one of the states that does all mail-in voting.
pnwmom
(109,009 posts)yellowdogintexas
(22,280 posts)and avoid the ID hassle
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)gopiscrap
(23,765 posts)CBHagman
(16,992 posts)...but I suspect they don't realize how it's applied, how many extra and sometimes onerous steps are added to the process (e.g., in states where prospective voters must travel great distances, submit to extended waiting times, and/or spend extra money to get approved), and how in effect it risks of disenfranchising people who have every right to vote.
The League of Women Voters opposes voter ID laws, as does the Brennan Center, and I from what I hear, academic studies of voter fraud indicate that the incidence of such is fairly rare.
Of course the capper to all this is the fact that multiple Republicans have admitted, on camera, this is all about getting their candidates elected.
Ms. Toad
(34,117 posts)who insisted voter ID was a good thing when stricter voter ID laws started being introduced several years ago. I got into some pretty ugly discussions with people who insisted that no one should have any real difficulty obtaining an ID.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)birth registration papers are insufficient to identify them. These laws are unfair to many people.
Good to see Jim Wright's picture.
TeamPooka
(24,264 posts)and it almost worked on him.
So how many will it actually work on that don't have powerful connections and a famous name?
Sad.
LisaL
(44,974 posts)TeamPooka
(24,264 posts)"The legendary Texas political figure says that he has worked things out with DPS and that he will get a state-issued personal identification card in time for him to vote Tuesday in the state and local elections."
LisaL
(44,974 posts)And he couldn't vote early as he wanted to originally.
He'd have to vote in a regular election, assuming he actually does get his ID.
TeamPooka
(24,264 posts)efhmc
(14,733 posts)for voting if turned away during early voting. Am voting tomorrow. Didn't vote early. So if there is a problem, I will not have time to fix it. Am already planning on making lots of ugly comments anyway.
riverbendviewgal
(4,254 posts)it has morphed into a corrupt government that suppresses legitimate voters...
It is now a banana republic, at least Texas is.
I used to love visiting...no longer. It is insanity in my southern neighbor.
Heather MC
(8,084 posts)What a bunch of bullshit
Voting should be the most hassel free thing a democrazy has to offer
A Simple Game
(9,214 posts)expect to see coming from the end of a gun is democracy. Even if that was our primary intention, which it is not, you would have a hard time finding a poorer way to accomplish it.
Even the results of our own revolution against Britain would have to be stretched beyond recognition to be truthfully called a democracy.
albino65
(484 posts)Do you have any room up there for us? My wife and I have had enough.
riverbendviewgal
(4,254 posts)and if you are eligible you may be accepted
check it out. left side bar gives eligibility requirements.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/ENGLISH/immigrate/index.asp
indepat
(20,899 posts)It's a shame laws intentionally designed to deter voting aren't unconstitutional, but this is 'murika in the new 'murikan century as envisioned by the right-wing PTB.
TexasProgresive
(12,159 posts)that's just who we don't want getting to vote."
Scurrilous
(38,687 posts)SoapBox
(18,791 posts)"...Wright, 90, expressed concern that such problems could deter others from voting and stifle turnout."
NO shit, Sherlock!
LisaL
(44,974 posts)He couldn't get an ID.
baldguy
(36,649 posts)Disenfranchise Democrats.
Skittles
(153,220 posts)repukes cannot win on their insane platform so they try to prevent Dems from voting
LisaL
(44,974 posts)the elderly. Since they are more likely to have an expired license.
CBHagman
(16,992 posts)...some of the very first accounts of people who would be adversely affected focused on the elderly, some of whom may have no state-sanctioned record (e.g., birth certificate or marriage license) to prove their identity and/or citizenship.
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)Tx4obama
(36,974 posts)Scuba
(53,475 posts)Jenoch
(7,720 posts)for several years after she quit driving. Her reaction time would have made it unsafe for her to drive. Afte she showed signs of dementia, my father brought her to the DMV and got her a state issued ID.
On a side note, after she had mild dementia for a couple of years, she was summoned to jury duty. She did not have to report.
Jamaal510
(10,893 posts)Republicans talk so much about how they love "freedom", I want to see Democrats rubbing this in their faces. You cannot honestly say you love freedom when you try to block people from partaking in a basic Constitutional act.
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)efhmc
(14,733 posts)prominent repukes having a problem?