90 Year Old Legendary Speaker of the House Jim Wright Denied Texas Voter ID Card
attribution: Star Telegram Terry Evans
A 90 year old man who just happens to be the former Speaker of the US House was denied a voter ID according to Texas’s new voter ID requirements.
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 wouldn’t 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.
Because a 90 year old man is trying to game the system, right?
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 he’s seeing happen under the state’s new voter ID law.
“I earnestly hope these unduly stringent requirements on voters won’t dramatically reduce the number of people who vote,” Wright told the Star-Telegram. “I think they will reduce the number to some extent.”
Wright and his assistant, Norma Ritchson, went to the DPS office on Woodway Drive to get a State of Texas Election Identification Certificate. Wright said he realized earlier in the week that the photo identifications he had — a Texas driver’s license that expired in 2010 and a TCU faculty ID — do not satisfy requirements of the voter ID law, enacted in 2011 by the Legislature. DPS officials concurred.
Republicans say no to American-made steel for Keystone XL
attribution: TransCanada
Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey’s amendment to the Keystone bill would have prohibited oil shipped through the pipeline from being exported. It was killed by a 57 to 42 vote. Minnesota Sen. Al Franken’s amendment would have required that the pipeline be built with American steel. It was killed by a 53 to 46 vote.
Germany offers free college tuition to U.S. and international students
attribution: Markus Studtmann/Wikipedia
All German universities are now free to Americans and all other international students. The last German state to charge tuition at its universities struck down the fees this week.
Even before Germany abolished college tuition for all students, the price was a steal. Typically semester fees were around $630. What’s more, German students receive many perks including discounts for food, clothing and events, as well as inexpensive or even free transportation.
Considering the average student loan debt in the U.S. is $29,400, a lot of U.S. high school students would do well to start learning German.
World News Forum 
Maybe I should learn read German.
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