HI bill would give anyone Obama birth info for ($100) fee

[kpete]

Source: Salon

FRIDAY Jan 28, 2011 04:30 ET
HI bill would give anyone Obama birth info for fee
By MARK NIESSE, Associated Press

Moving to dispel claims that President Barack Obama was not born in Hawaii, his supporters in the state's legislature have introduced a bill that would allow anyone to get a copy of his birth records for a $100 fee.

The idea behind the measure is to end skepticism over Obama's birthplace while raising a little money for a government with a projected budget deficit exceeding $800 million over the next two years.

"If it passes, it will calm the birthers down," said the bill's primary sponsor, Rep. Rida Cabanilla. "All these people are still doubting it because they don't want the birth certificate from Obama. They want it from our state office."

Read more: http://www.salon.com/wires/us/2011/01/28/D9L18OP80_us_obama_birth_certificate/index.html

[FreakinDJ]

1. Make it $1000 and give the money to the poor

fucking Freetards

[meegbear]

5. +1

[LynneSin]

2. Great way to raise funds for the state

And make those birthers feel stupid for wasting $100 on something most sane people already know.

[slackmaster]

3. The fee really shouldn't exceed what it costs the state to make copies and mail them

$3 per page is pretty standard for certified copies of public record data.

[dkf]

8. Memorabilia adds value you know.

We've got a hot in demand product. Why give it away for peanuts?

[October]

9. In the article...

"The $100 fee would help offset the extra work by state employees who handle frequent phone calls and e-mails from people who believe Obama was born elsewhere, Cabanilla said."

<snip>

[slackmaster]

14. The phone calls and emails would drop precipitously if the data was made easily available

It would change the environment completely.

[trud]

18. slackmaster

The data is publicly available. You knew that, right? Except the private records that contain his mother's medical history.

Everyone in the Hawaiian bureaucracy has also examined the records and stated the facts. Some people are just uninformed and wear tin foil hats.

Some stupidity is ineradicable.

[TomCADem]

20. Except That Normally, The Record Is Exempt From Disclosure

It shouldn't be disclosed in the first place.

Soon there will be internet malls where you can download a privately compiled dossiers on individuals for a nominal fee.

http://epic.org/

###

EPIC is a public interest research center in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1994 to focus public attention on emerging civil liberties issues and to protect privacy, the First Amendment, and constitutional values.

[Lefta Dissenter]

21. normally I'd agree

but at least in Wisconsin, the public records laws don't force an agency to provide records that the requester already has available to him. So one could use that argument in defending the higher fee for that particular public record.

[Renew Deal]

4. Is this legal?

Does it just apply to Obama or every citizen?

[bhikkhu]

15. Birth records are public information - its legal

To put this in context, HI announced a couple of months ago that it was no longer honoring requests for copies of Obama's birth certificate as the recorder's office simply didn't have the manpower and the volume of requests was obstructing their regular work. Evidently requests have still been coming, and more controversy has been hatched recently...this is a brilliant solution, and an excellent way to raise funds.

[Renew Deal]

23. But is it for all birth certificates or just Obama's?

If it's for all of them, then citizens are getting screwed by the birthers.

[HereSince1628]

6. Good idea but the fee shouldn't be higher than typical for

historical research--granted it isn't typical to be allowed to receive the BC of an unrelated person who is likely to have living first degree relatives.

[zipplewrath]

7. Not by a long shot

"All these people are still doubting it because they don't want the birth certificate from Obama. They want it from our state office."

That ain't the reason by a long shot. It won't matter what piece of paper they receive, it won't be "enough". If I were Obama, I'd authorize Hawaii to build a museum where you could pass by the actual piece of paper, seeing both sides, through bullet proof glass, for $10 a person. Treat it like the friggin' Declaration of Independence. Heck, it could be the start of the Presidential library.

[RC]

12. I think you are on to something.

However, I think there might be a problem in that there probably is no 'original piece of paper'. It has all been computerized and the original document destroyed.

So we will never know If Obama was born in Hawaii or not. Those two birth announcements in the Honolulu newspapers at the time were faked by his grandparents when Obama decided he wanted to be President, don't cha know. :sarcasm:

[zipplewrath]

22. It was all so diabolical

The plot began more than 40 years ago.

They would groom a child from birth.

He would be the "invader from with in".

So they picked a pregnant white woman who married a black man in the '50s.

They had a black child.

And they named him Barack Hussein Obama.

And this was what they would bet their next forty years of efforts upon.

Not some son of a upper class white family who already had a president for a father, and was Harvard AND Yale educated.

[Enthusiast]

26. Damn, that's a great idea! nt

[ClassWarrior]

10. NOTHING will calm the birthers down, Rep. Cabanilla.

:shrug:

NGU.

[LibDemAlways]

13. Correct. They could be shown video footage surrounding the birth starting

with Obama's mother leaving her residence and following her to the hospital, introductions of the staff along with their biographies, and interviews under oath with neighbors who interacted with the family when they returned home, and none of it would matter. They'd still claim it was all a conspiracy to hide the truth. The birthers live in fantasyland.

[FLPanhandle]

11. Conspiracy nuts will never accept any evidence that debunks their pet theory

They'll just invent another reason why this piece of evidence is invalid.

It's impossible to derail a conspiracy nut.

[slackmaster]

17. Yes, the hard-core ones will simply expand the conspiracy

That's what they always do (or contract it if there's no way to expand it).

[demwing]

16. It won't matter. The birthers KNOW in their hearts that Obama was born in Hawaii

but don't care. The game is not to prove he wasn't born in America, but to keep the argument alive by constantly casting doubt on his legitimacy in any way possible, logical on non, so as to present cover for their racism.

We will NEVER win this argument, NOT because the other side will NEVER admit defeat (though they will not), but because we and they are playing different games, and on different fields.

[TomCADem]

19. So, for $100, HI Is Going To Sell Out A Citizen's Privacy Right? Great

Well, I guess if you are going to carve out an individual citizen's right to privacy in their records, you might as well charge the crazies for that privilege.

[Xithras]

24. In most states, birth certificates are public records.

If I knew your birthdate, your birth name, and the state you were born in, I could request yours. The only difference is that non-familial requests are usually limited to "informational copies", which usually have a giant stamp across them to prevent other people from using them to steal your identity. The information will be valid, but it won't be an "authorized and certified" copy that can be used to request an ID, get married, or open credit accounts. The informational copies here in California have the words "INFORMATIONAL ONLY - NOT VALID TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY" watermarked across the entire certificate.

[Enthusiast]

25. That is a great idea! nt

[4_TN_TITANS]

27. The birthers will complain about a verification 'tax'

to prove what everyone else already knows.