# Has Obama spent a million dollars to hide his birth certificate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 9, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877 "2009-08-09T22:44:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/1 "2009-08-09T22:44:05Z")
No, I’m not a “birther”, I have no doubt Obama was born in Hawaii, that’s not what this is about. P I’ve seen in several places the claim that Obama has spent a million dollars to hide his birth certificate. It may or may not have originated from the Queen Birther herself, Orly Taitz: [http://www.orlytaitzesq.com/](http://www.orlytaitzesq.com/) I cannot find on that website any more information about this claim. Anybody know any more about this? Are they referring to legal fees from some kind of court proceeding, or what? Are there any details anywhere about this claim? And no, even if this claim is true, I doubt that will change my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/2 "2009-08-09T22:54:31Z")
Never heard of it. But all of this started when Obama [posted his own birth certificate on his own web site.](http://www.fightthesmears.com/articles/5/birthcertificate.html) Just speaking to the practicalities of it, how would he hide his own birth certificate? [Here’s a detail from Obamanotqualified.com, which I found from a link on Taitz’s site:](http://www.obamanotqualified.com/) > [@](#): > > Original, vault copy birth certificate: Not released (attorney’s fees are estimated to be up to about $2 MILLION now, instead of HI birth certificate fee of under $20 bucks) So it’s an estimate, and my guess is that it is one they pulled out of their asses. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/3 "2009-08-09T22:56:54Z")
A certified copy of his birth certificate is readily available on the web. So if he spent $1M hiding it he should demand his money back. How do the fruitcakes who make these claims substantiate them? Did the Son of Sam’s dog tell them? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/4 "2009-08-09T22:57:22Z")
OK, I’ll bite. What the hell is a “vault copy”? ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/5 "2009-08-09T23:00:33Z")
Wait wait, her name is _Orly?_ Like, O Rly? Awesome. “[O Rly?](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_f2Ilrihc-Ew/SV0shLv50mI/AAAAAAAAAF4/eWX3QDMJsSU/S220/orly2.png)” ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/6 "2009-08-09T23:08:44Z")
I think they got it from March 1, 2009. > [@](#): > > “[Obama] is spending hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars to keep this information from getting out,” said Gary Kreep, the lawyer representing former presidential candidate Alan Keyes, who sued Obama in California to prevent the state from certifying its election results. > Keyes recently called the citizenship issue “the greatest crisis this nation has ever seen” and warned of “chaos, confusion and civil war.” from [http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/19450\_Page2.html](http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/19450_Page2.html) So, it was originally “hundreds of thousands” and now it’s millions. ---
**Author:** ![Dick\_Dastardly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@Dick\_Dastardly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dick_Dastardly)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/7 "2009-08-09T23:09:57Z")
Orly whatshername is a lawyer, a dentist and a real estate agent. I think that says it all really. And she doesn’t exactly have a midwestern accent herself, where’s her birth certificate? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/8 "2009-08-09T23:10:49Z")
_Kreep???_ ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/9 "2009-08-09T23:12:40Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > OK, I’ll bite. What the hell is a “vault copy”? I assume it’s the master copy, kept away from the public in case some retard asks to have a look and “accidentally” destroys it to prop up their moronic claims. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/10 "2009-08-09T23:14:25Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > I assume it’s the master copy, kept away from the public in case some retard asks to have a look and “accidentally” destroys it to prop up their moronic claims. In which case it’s worth noting that Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle has already said that she, and other officials, have seen this copy of the birth certificate and that it is genuine. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/11 "2009-08-09T23:23:41Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > In which case it’s worth noting that Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle has already said that she, and other officials, have seen this copy of the birth certificate and that it is genuine. You forget: It’s all a conspiracy. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/12 "2009-08-09T23:33:39Z")
Since I haven’t seen it out and out stated yet, I should mentioned that most folks who talk about this number are talking in terms of (usually estimated or guessed-at) attorney’s fees. ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/13 "2009-08-09T23:34:08Z")
Most of the lawsuits and stuff are various people suing goverment agencies,so Obama is not the defendent, ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2009, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/14 "2009-08-09T23:40:47Z")
Hell, I don’t think Obama even had a million dollars until his book sold! ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/15 "2009-08-10T01:07:36Z")
I just don’t get why somone can’t smack this whole thing down. Isn’t there a neighbor who remembers, medical records, or a comparison to another person born on the same day in the same hospital as to what records are available? This is not dying down, it’s just getting more and more crazy. Now that we have partisan news I’m not sure that the WH is watching Fox or following right-wing radio enough to see what a wildfire this is. One of the supermarket rags had a huge headline today about Obama being born in Canada for goodness sake. Isn’t there a Gerald Posner around who can document every jot and tittle of the birth to at least confine this to a small fringe rather than the majority of the GOP who don’t think Obama was born in the US? The way things are going with the birthers and the healthcare nuts, someone is going to get shot. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/16 "2009-08-10T01:11:37Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > …someone is going to get shot. I have a little list, of people who won’t be missed… ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/17 "2009-08-10T01:12:42Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > I just don’t get why somone can’t smack this whole thing down. Isn’t there a neighbor who remembers, medical records, or a comparison to another person born on the same day in the same hospital as to what records are available? Irrelevant, irrelevant, irrelevant. If you come up with a neighbour who remembers, the conspiracy theorists will say they’re lying, or mistaken, or are Obama shills. If you come up with medical records, they’ll say they’re faked, or not the correct records. After all, his OFFICIAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE is being dismissed, so why would medical records matter? Another person born oin the same day? Won’t matter. Faked, lying, blah blah blah. _We’ve seen his birth certificate._ There is independent evidence (newspaper announcements) he was born in Hawaii. There is a LOT of circumstantial evidence he was born in Hawaii. It makes no difference. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/18 "2009-08-10T01:19:06Z")
Why would he hide his birth certificate? There is always an original on file. They do not give that to you. ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/19 "2009-08-10T01:20:09Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > I just don’t get why somone can’t smack this whole thing down. Isn’t there a neighbor who remembers, medical records, or a comparison to another person born on the same day in the same hospital as to what records are available? This is not dying down, it’s just getting more and more crazy. Now that we have partisan news I’m not sure that the WH is watching Fox or following right-wing radio enough to see what a wildfire this is. One of the supermarket rags had a huge headline today about Obama being born in Canada for goodness sake. Isn’t there a Gerald Posner around who can document every jot and tittle of the birth to at least confine this to a small fringe rather than the majority of the GOP who don’t think Obama was born in the US? > > The way things are going with the birthers and the healthcare nuts, someone is going to get shot. You can’t smack it down for the same reason you can’t smack the 9/11 truthers down: Their arguments aren’t based on logic, not even on flawed logic. They believe because they want to believe. Both sides consist largely of stupid, unstable angry wingnuts and not-quite-as-stupid-or-unstable ringleaders with a vested interest in riling up the stupid angry wingnuts, because they are unable to get what they want through more socially or morally acceptable means. The only important difference between the truthers and the birthers is that the mainstream liberals were able to disassociate themselves from the truthers, but mainstream conservatives have proven themselves unable to dislodge the birthers. I’d call them albatrosses around our necks, but albatrosses are attractive animals which serve a purpose. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/20 "2009-08-10T01:23:35Z")
> [@ZebraShaSha](#): > > Wait wait, her name is _Orly?_ Like, O Rly? > > Awesome. > > “[O Rly?](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_f2Ilrihc-Ew/SV0shLv50mI/AAAAAAAAAF4/eWX3QDMJsSU/S220/orly2.png)” How fitting! Nice catch. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877.md?page=2)