Hawaii slams door on 'birthers,' who turn to Obama Social Security number
Tired of repeated requests for President Obama's birth certificate 鈥� often from the same people 鈥� Hawaii has adopted a law that allows the state to deny such requests. But 'birthers' are now questioning a different document: the Obama Social Security number.
The copy of President Obama's birth certificate presented by his campaign to refute rumors that he was not born in the US. 'Birthers' have questioned the validity of the document, and some have written to Hawaii to request the actual certificate. Others are focusing on new rumors about the Obama Social Security number.
Chicago Tribune/MCT/Newscom
Hawaii is saying 鈥楢loha鈥� to the "birthers."
The state government can legally ignore repeated requests for President Obama鈥檚 birth certificate 鈥� a blow (or perhaps a publicity boost) to the birther movement, which claims that Mr. Obama was not born the US, and is therefore not eligible to be president.
The birthers are instead turning to another claim against Obama鈥檚 legitimacy: an Internet rumor that questions the Obama social security number. Two private investigators claim that the digits indicate that it was issued in Connecticut, not Hawaii. (The digits in a social security number are allocated based on state of residence when issued.) They also say his social security number belongs to someone born in 1890.
In Hawaii, the Republican Gov. Linda Lingle signed the birth certificate bill into law Wednesday.
The Hawaii Department of Health, apparently, has had enough. It receives about 50 requests for Obama鈥檚 birth certificate every month, according to the agency鈥檚 director, Dr. Chiyome Fukino. And those requests come mostly from the same four to five people, she said in a testimony before the state legislature in February.
鈥淭he time and state resources it takes to respond to these often convoluted inquiries are considerable,鈥� she said in the testimony.
Sure, but wasn鈥檛 Obama the guy who proclaimed, 鈥淭ransparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency,鈥� in to his cabinet and senior staff just one day after he took the oath of office?
The law, known as Act 100, takes a detour around the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by allowing state agencies a limited exemption from FOIA requirements when repeated requests for information are made by the same person. The law covers all agencies but it specifically targets people who repeatedly request a copy of Obama鈥檚 Hawaii birth certificate, the Honolulu Advertiser Thursday.
In an interview with WABC Radio in New York, Governor Lingle said the state鈥檚 health director personally viewed Obama鈥檚 birth record.
鈥淭he president was, in fact, born at Kapi鈥檕lani Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii,鈥� she said on air. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 just a fact.鈥�
According to the certification of live birth (which is considered the same as a birth certificate, legally), he was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961.
That鈥檚 been confirmed by .
And thanks to Act 100, that鈥檚 all the fact-checking anyone can do, for now.
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Blogosphere goes bonkers over 'birthers'