# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/101 "2009-08-14T17:09:03Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > I voted for Kodos. So I guess you can blame me. Me, too. What was I going to do? Waste my vote on a third party candidate? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/102 "2009-08-14T17:25:25Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > 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**? :dubious: No way. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/103 "2009-08-14T17:56:10Z")
> [@ManiacMan](#): > > I don’t understand how Obama can’t just get this “vault” copy…original copy or whatever and settle the issue once and for all. Am I missing something? It seems like it would be the thing to do to shut everyone up about it. Know what I mean? I can go to the city hall where I was born almost 40 years ago and get a copy of my mine for $7.00 and its pretty easy to do. Hardly any line at all most days…why can’t he do that? He has already shown the same copy of his BC that you would be able to pay $7 for. It’s a certified copy that anyone can get by contacting the Dept of Health in the state they were born. The “vault copy” is the original - the one with the ink from the pen that signed it. Those are not released - for you or for Obama. The original is kept in the “vault” of the DHS. The head of the Hawaiian DHS and the Governor of Hawaii have both said they have seen the original BC that’s kept in the “vault”. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/104 "2009-08-14T18:15:08Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > :dubious: > > No way. [http://www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/0709/58\_of\_GOP\_not\_suredont\_beleive\_Obama\_born\_in\_US.html](http://www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/0709/58_of_GOP_not_suredont_beleive_Obama_born_in_US.html) 28% believe he wasn’t, 30% aren’t sure. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/105 "2009-08-14T18:41:48Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > [http://www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/0709/58\_of\_GOP\_not\_suredont\_beleive\_Obama\_born\_in\_US.html](http://www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/0709/58_of_GOP_not_suredont_beleive_Obama_born_in_US.html) 28% believe he wasn’t, 30% aren’t sure. That’s **5** 8% who believe he wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/106 "2009-08-14T18:49:13Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > That’s **5** 8% who believe he wasn’t. No, no … this is quoted on the front page (post #22). The 28% is correct – the 58% was derived by adding the 28% to the 30% who “weren’t sure”. EDIT: Looking further at the poll’s methodology, and some of the comments underneath … I’m not sure the poll tells us much at all. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/107 "2009-08-14T18:53:51Z")
So only a minority of (remaining) Republicans are dismissing the idea. Does that worry anybody else? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/108 "2009-08-14T18:56:51Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > So only a minority of (remaining) Republicans are dismissing the idea. I don’t think that poll gets us to the point where we can say that. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/109 "2009-08-14T19:04:47Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > So only a minority of (remaining) Republicans are dismissing the idea. Does that worry anybody else? I don’t think that’s entirely accurate, but if it is–worry in what way? Yes, I’m worried that we have two national parties and one of them is completely in thrall to a conspiracy theory that makes about as much sense as a conspiracy to wear bowties. Is that what you mean? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/110 "2009-08-14T19:10:29Z")
Pretty much, regardless of the actual number. And it isn’t this particular bit o’ wackiness that worries me so much, it’s that it’s part of a behavior pattern of reality disconnects, That, and the appearance (supported by the greatly shrunken numbers of self-identified Republicans) that so many sane people have left it altogether that they no longer can influence the rest, much less form the basis of the party’s general recovery. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/111 "2009-08-14T19:25:31Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Pretty much, regardless of the actual number. And it isn’t this particular bit o’ wackiness that worries me so much, it’s that it’s part of a behavior pattern of reality disconnects, > > That, and the appearance (supported by the greatly shrunken numbers of self-identified Republicans) that so many sane people have left it altogether that they no longer can influence the rest, much less form the basis of the party’s general recovery. Agreed that’s troubling. I was reading a blog somewhere, I think it was “Reason,” where they talked about the desperation of the Birfers to find a magic bullet–something that could completely erase Obama’s influence without any hard work involved. There’s a fantasy-like quality to the Birther movement, like a kid who dreams of his _real_ parents showing up and they’re _rich_ and they’ve been desperately looking all this time. Most of us, even when we were kids, knew that these fantasies couldn’t be true. A little voice in our heads says, “Well, you know, you weren’t very hard to find.” It’s as if the Birthers have smothered that little voice in its cradle. ---
**Author:** ![camaysar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/958977/32.png) [@camaysar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/camaysar)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/112 "2010-08-01T17:33:56Z")
You cannot argue logically with Birthers, much as you cannot argue logically with religious believers (who are free to believe what they will if it helps them). Tell a Christian that dead people don’t leave their grave after 3 days and walk around, and their answer is “With God anything is possible.” With Birthers, the answer is “It’s a forgery” or “He is lying.” ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/113 "2010-08-01T17:48:15Z")
Braaaaiiins… Very apt though, your mentioning of people that leave their grave after 3 days, or 1 year as the case may be. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/114 "2010-08-01T17:50:03Z")
If he did, a million dollars would be a cheap price for the payoff of having some of his opponents go around looking like crackpots and tarring the opposition in general by association. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/115 "2010-08-01T17:57:52Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > > [@CurtC](#): > > > > I voted for Kodos. So I guess you can blame me. > > Me, too. > > What was I going to do? Waste my vote on a third party candidate? Like Cthulhu? This sort of stuff is what happens when you vote for the lesser evil! ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/116 "2010-08-01T19:01:47Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Even if that WAS true, aren’t all sosh #'s recycled anyways? I thought someone told me that. [No](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/789/are-social-security-numbers-recycled). As a rule, “I thought someone told me that” isn’t a very good cite. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/117 "2010-08-01T19:02:26Z")
It was a billion dollars. Obama would drop a mill like spare change. He has been a baron for decades and has lots of available money. His mother bribed Hawaiian birth certificate workers another million to cover it up. She knew then. They always knew he would be president and a huge coverup was necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/118 "2010-08-02T00:27:45Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > This is a "Boys From Brazil’ scenario. People behind the curtains are running a more than 50 year conspiracy to set up a future president. They knew when he was born that he would become president. Selecting a black guy in 1961 was the true masterstroke – who would have suspected that he was destined to be President? ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/119 "2010-08-02T10:41:53Z")
Apparently, George Soros was controlling the state department in 1967. Who knew? Fascinating how much paperwork the State Department has kept over the decades. Recently released, FOIA. > [@The State Dept](#): > > ``` > Memo to file > A 14 128 294 > Sept. 14, 1967 > > Pursuant to inquiry from Central office regarding the status of the applicants’ [Lolo Soetoro] spouses’ child by a former marriage. > > The person in question is a united states citizen by virtue of his birth in Honolulu, Hawaii Aug. 4, 1961. He is living with the applicants’ spouse in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is considered the applicants step-child, within the meaning of Sec. 101(b)(1)(B), of the act, by virtue of the marriage of the applicant to the childs’ mother on March 15, 1965. > > W. L. Mix > > ``` [Allen V USCIS/DHS FOIA Release - Lolo Soetoro (Obama's Step-Father) U.S. Records - 7/29/10 | PDF | Freedom Of Information Act (United States) | Public Law](http://www.scribd.com/doc/35192432/Lolo-Soetoro-U-S-Records-Allen-v-DHS-State-and-Allen-v-USCIS-FOIA-Releases-Final-7-29-10) page 38. ---
**Author:** ![Don123](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19adc/32.png) [@Don123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don123)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877/120 "2010-08-02T11:48:37Z")
You know you have a black backed up into a corner, that they cannot get out of, when they start yelling racist as that is their only defense. So you are a racist if you want verification of a birth certificate? Ha ha, blacks and liberals are silly. But the point being Obama was adopted in Indonesia by his second father that made him a citizen of that country and by their law there is NO duel citizenship. In these cases the child must, by US law, in order to keep his USA citizenship announce his USA citizenship by simply filling out a government form on his 18th birthday. There are NO records that obama did that. But there are records that obama in his early 20’s used his Indonesia passport to go to Pakistan, that at the time was a NO travel zone to USA citizens. But as one federal judge put it—the people have spoken so it does not matter at this point if obama was born on Mars by Klingons parents. As is more than likely the case as no human could be that stupid. I bet if a white conservative republican that was born in Canada ran for USA presidency you liberals and blacks would be all up in arms.—you people are so funny at times. [http://texashillblog.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/was-barack-obama-adopted-by-soetoro-how-does-this-affect-citizenship/](http://texashillblog.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/was-barack-obama-adopted-by-soetoro-how-does-this-affect-citizenship/) An “interview” that Michelle Obama had with the API, admonishing them for “siding with racist bloggers” and ranting against them for questioning her husband, had one interesting little tidbit in it…. WND “African Press International is supposed to support Africans and African-American view,” she reportedly said. “It is strange that API has chosen to support the racists against my husband. There is no shame in being adopted by a stepfather. All dirt has been thrown onto my husband’s face and yet he loves this country. My husband and I know that there is no law that will stop him from becoming the president, just because some American white racists are bringing up the issue of my husband’s adoption by his stepfather. The important thing here is where my husband’s heart is at the moment. I can tell the American people that my husband loves this country and his adoption never changed his love for this country. He was born in Hawaii, yes, and that gives him all the right to be an American citizen even though he was adopted by a foreigner.” So by Michelle Obama own words, he was adopted—well so much obama’s USA citizenship, it is non-existent even if he was born on that liberal Island. And by the way blacks call me a racist all the time even when they are busted for showing up LATE for work. ha ha ha, it was Bush’s fault—ha ha ha Don [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-obama-spent-a-million-dollars-to-hide-his-birth-certificate/505877.md?page=7)