The US Constitution promises citizens a guaranteed right to vote.

We have no constitutional right to buy Sudafed, or any other drug. We have no constitutionally guaranteed right to get on an airplane or drive a car. To compare voting to buying cold medicine is to belittle the Bill of Rights.

In addition, our constitution states that we are, each and everyone of us, innocent until proven guilty. Voter ID requirements say we are guilty until we can prove ourselves innocent.

That the group from the Voter Integrity Project who spoke at last week’s house hearing (I was there) repeated the same story over and over, tells us that there are not enough such ‘stories’ to go around. It tells us that voter fraud is not as rampant as some want it to be. It tells us that this bill requiring ID to vote is an excuse, not a reason. An excuse to limit voting and restrict citizen access to the polls. Our legislature is seeking to limit citizen participation in elections.

Our governor’s refusal to set up expanded Medicaid in the state of North Carolina will not only cost our citizens the benefits that come from well over 20,000 new jobs and better health care, but will cost our existing businesses money. Bloomberg news is reporting that:

Governors who refuse to expand their Medicaid programs for the poor may cost employers in their states as much as $1.3 billion in federal fines, a study found.

A personal financial website called NerdWallet has named Raleigh as the Number 8 best city for female entrepreneurs. It seems that others have taken notice of the fact that the number of businesses here is growing and that a large number of them are run by women. Isn't that great! Some of their criteria involved having a thriving economy. The level of education is important and seems to co-orelate to having an entrepreneurial spirit. Raleigh was 8th, and the other cities, from 1 on to 10 are: San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC, Minneapolis, Portland OR, Atlanta, Austin, (Raleigh at 8), Denver at 9, and San Diego at 10.

Today comes news that Forbes magazine has issued its list of America’s Fastest Growing Cities, and Raleigh-Durham has come in at number Four. That’s right, four. Forbes comments (with my emphasis):

Fourth on our list is the boomtown of Raleigh, N.C. Situated between Raleigh and nearby Durham is the Research Triangle Park, where more than 170 companies have outposts, including major corporations like EMC, Cisco and First Citizens National Bank. Raleigh is also home to a multitude of universities and colleges, helping create a highly educated population: Roughly 50% residents ages 25 and older have college degrees.