Hawaii Legislature Introduces Bill To Raise Revenues From Lunatics

As you may have heard, Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D), upon taking office, declared that he was going to be the guy to settle the whole "Obama birth certificate" matter once and for all, with the aim of getting all of the birther kooks to stop calling up Hawaii state officials and pestering them with their delusions. Dave Weigel, America's foremost birther primatologist, thought it was a mistake to even bother -- a stance with which I concurred, because you cannot satisfy crazy people. You can only medicate them.

That said, you can part fools from their money, and that's apparently a component of what Abercrombie wants to do. Per the 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.

The bill's sponsor, state Rep. Rida Cabanilla, says, "If it passes, it will calm the birthers down." She's wrong about that! But if Hawaii can make a little scratch off of their obsessions, all the better. This is a brilliant way of turning birtherism into something that's not completely pointless.

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Comments

[Brice Lewis]

04:33 PM on 02/10/2011

Only a hundred. Make it a grand. If it's that damn important to the birthers, make 'em pay through the nose for the privilege.

[mawombat]

12:14 PM on 02/01/2011

The title of this article as wel as the language used within it is absolutely disgraceful for a "news" agency". When did labeling people as luntics, kkoks, and crazies become de rigeur for a legitimate new story, how is doing fair and unbiased reporting, when you use those headlines, it makes me believe that maybe this paper among the rest is a stooge for this gov't, how can any issue can a fair debate when our news agencies are the ones doing the name calling and very little if any fact checking, and not just from Factcheck, which is biased by their foundation. Certainly, no effort was made to look at both sides of the story with legitimacy. I just become more and more ashamed of our country and those "leading" it and "reporting" on it.

[Brice Lewis]

04:36 PM on 02/10/2011

This is a "column", also known as "an opinion" or "an op-ed" Terms like "lunatics", "kkoks" (your spelling, not mine), and "crazies" are opinions, and are thus allowed in opinion pieces.

[esseff44]

03:58 PM on 01/31/2011

Many states do not keep the original registration after the information has been entered into the state's records in an archival form. Here's a link to the Alabama Department of Health which is responsible for registering and reporting vital statitistics. On page 19 of the Code, it states the the originals may be destroyed after being recording in various forms.

So if states pass birther laws demanding the original, natural born citizens from these states could not ever produce an 'original' to satisfy the letter of these laws. Has anyone checked to see how many states actually keep originals and which candidates would not be allowed to run in birther law states if those laws stand?

http://adph.org/vitalrecords/Default.asp?id=2105

How many other states have laws like this where the original may have been destroyed after the information is recorded in another form?

[Larry Lane]

07:03 PM on 01/30/2011

I really resent you refering to people who demand proof that Obama was born in the United States as "lunatics". This smear campaign by you Obama cheerleaders and stooges in the liberal news media cannot make this vital issue go away. The burden of proof is on Obama. he must produce a certified copy of his birth certificate or go to prison.

Dr. Edwin Vieira, Jr., Ph.D., J.D. is no "lunatic". I suggest you familiarize yourself with his articles concering Obama and his necessitty to prove that he is elligible to be president.

As soon as someone faces a possible prison sentence as a result of one of the contriversial laws that Obama has enacted, This person will Sue Obama to demand he produce proof he was born in this country. This person will have legal "standing" and a judge will not be able to dimiss the case.

[Brighton Rose]

09:11 AM on 01/31/2011

Anyone....ANYONE....who thinks the security agencies in this country (CIA, FBI, Homeland Security) would just sit back and not investigate a presidential candidate's birth records and allow him to be elected POTUS...IS a lunatic. I don't care what title they have BEFORE their name, or what letters come AFTER it.
The simple fact is that YOUR candidate didn't win, and as with all people from the "losing" side, you will do whatever it takes to smear the name of who IS elected. This isn't the first POTUS to have his credentials questioned over one idiotic thing or another, and it won't be the last.
The other truth is...no matter if the very doctor who pulled him from his mother's vagina came to you personally and told you he is an American citizen you will still require "proof"...or further proof. Lunatics.
If "Dr." Vieira has only written articles about Obama's "need" to prove his citizenship, then you need to find a more credible source for your arguments. Simply because someone writes an article you agree wth doesn't make it reliable...or factual...or sane.

[Jericho the Red]

09:14 AM on 01/31/2011

lunatic lunatic lunatic

all presidential canidates are veted by the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security..
get a grip he was born here.. Your side lost

[AmeriGus]

10:37 AM on 01/30/2011

I don't question Obama being born in Hawaii but we should all be curious as to why he won't share an image of the vault original to shut this movement down.

We should also be insisting on an explanation. If you have the proof that will make this all go away, why withhold it? Is he saving it for a media exclusive during the height of the next election?

[Jericho the Red]

09:15 AM on 01/31/2011

he doesn't have access to it, as no one else does either- you can demand one all you want and they will tell you no

[AmeriGus]

11:20 PM on 01/31/2011

I have mine (NY)

[mawombat]

12:35 PM on 02/01/2011

He doesn't have acces to it? All he has to do is prove he is Barack H. Obama and they will mail him one, may be a slight charge for the copy (much less than the insane charge Hawaii is saying they will charge for a document they can't send out to anyone else) but he is the only one who can access it, unless we demand it now that he is POTUS,

[esseff44]

03:10 PM on 01/31/2011

No matter what he shows or what evidence is produced, it will not 'shut the movement down.' It's not proof they are looking for. They just want to be annoying detractors.

[mawombat]

12:39 PM on 02/01/2011

Do you know anything about "the movement" that you have researched yourself or are you getting your info from other individuals, maybe then you may become one of the "annoying detractors". And what is wrong about demanding proof, why is his draft form on a 2008 form, when he registered in 1980. When things smell fishy, they generally are, if not, just provide a one page document that would end the whole issue.

[RickAHyatt]

03:15 AM on 02/28/2011

What if his BC reveals the true name of his true father, and he's WHITE?
Kind of blows his whole scam, doesn't it?
Google my name, rickhyatt, and learn more...

[Allan888]

09:52 AM on 01/30/2011

No amount of proof satisfies them. Only a time machine. They are an embarrassment.

[Douglas Campbell]

11:54 PM on 01/30/2011

Pretty smart of Hawaii, though. BTW - The irony is that McCain was born in Panama.

[mawombat]

12:20 PM on 02/01/2011

The embarrasment will be severe when we treat this issue seriously and found out the truth. Just like 9/11. It is time to wake up.

[ninthraphael]

05:30 PM on 02/10/2011

your truth?

[CarolinaYankee]

09:06 AM on 01/30/2011

Charge them $2,500....

[f8doggie]

06:24 AM on 01/30/2011

Not bad, Hawaii. Not bad.

[Packattack]

04:47 AM on 01/30/2011

and here i thought they found a way to get some repubs to give up some money.

[Pupadup4oBama]

01:23 AM on 01/30/2011

I just had to prove my citizenship for a job. I gave them my Certificate of Live Birth. It was perfectly acceptable.

[Julia Bailey]

09:30 AM on 01/30/2011

That was the ONLY thing I ever got. My housemates too. That's all some states issue. But birthers don't know people from other states.

[Freesia2]

12:45 AM on 01/30/2011

So they took a page from P.T. Barnum's book: Charge the rubes.

Charge them. They're not going to change and even when they've forked over their $100 they won't be satisfied. The ink will be the wrong color, they're not sure if Hawaii is spelled right even if it's spelled H-a-w-a-i-i. (They can't spell. See Tea Bagger signs about libruls being morans).  Some right winger may tell them it's a scam and an elitist move to wipe out all the God fearin' America lovin'  "real" Amerikun-in' people like them because the paper it's printed on is contaminated with a  nefarious gas created in the laboratories of some elitist Ivy League college to put them in a trance and they'll wake up socialist/N@zi/communist Kenyans with an irresistible desire to run out and vote for a black Democrat and...get an @bortion. "Don't buy it!" which will result in their not buying it therefore crying "I don't have proof". And the wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and....Glenn Beck will tell them it's no good because it's not printed in gold.

But charge the rubes. Every cent you can get.

[Concerned Citizen in CA]

01:01 AM on 01/30/2011

Then they can just charge them more when the rubes come back to sue claiming they received faked documents.

[Freesia2]

01:18 AM on 01/30/2011

Good. :-)

My dream is that they get their document, declare it fake and also claim that the state of Hawaii had no right to charge them. They then take it all the way to a high court, bellowing and bellyaching, in a very loud argument about how the state overstepped and they want the federal governent to do something about it. It will be lost on them (see Tea Bagger, see rube) that they are one of those states rights people always threatening to secede from the very federal government whom they now want to fix it.

I would pay $100 to watch that. It would tickle me to death.

[RickAHyatt]

03:17 AM on 02/28/2011

Wrong: The way they want it over there is to spell it "Hawai'i." And to pronounce the "w" as a "v."
But you ARE right about libruls being morans.

[Concerned Citizen in CA]

12:39 AM on 01/30/2011

Hopefully Hawaii will charge higher than normal court fees when these nutjobs come back after getting their copy of the birth certificate and sue claiming they received a fake document.

[murphysgirl]

11:31 PM on 01/29/2011

I think it's great! The teabaggers will fork out the cash without hesitation.

[Jced]

05:08 PM on 01/29/2011

If there was ever any question of the President's birth...Trust me on this, Hillary Clinton would have told the entire country about it...you can be assured her campaign saw the President's Birth Certificate!!!

[Marlyn]

12:13 PM on 01/29/2011

I've no problem with the plan to charge $100.

But these birthers will never be satisfied. Any new evidence provided to them will be labeled fake. Any person who speaks out in support of Obama will be accused of being bribed.