Arizona "Birther" Bill Dismissed by White House, Slammed by Critics

Kyrsten Sinema, a Democratic representative in the Arizona state legislature, said the "birther bill" recently advanced in the Arizona House would make the state "the laughing stock of the nation." Reaction to the legislation indicates people agree.

The Arizona House of Representatives on Monday voted 31 - 22 to advance a bill that would require Arizona's secretary of state to review a presidential candidate's birth certificate before that candidate could get on the ballot in the state.

The Arizona Republic reports, "The legislation originated from a fringe group that believes President Barack Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States and therefore ineligible to be president."

The so-called "birther movement," questioning Mr. Obama's origins, began during his presidential campaign. It has steadily persisted through Mr. Obama's presidency, in spite of overwhelming evidence he was born in the United States -- including his 1961 birth announcement, printed in two Hawaii newspapers.

The White House has been dismissive of the legislation.

"I can't imagine Arizona voters think their tax dollars are well served by a legislature that is less focused on their lives than in fringe right-wing radio conspiracy theories," White House spokesman Bill Burton told CNN.

Robert Schlesinger at U.S. News and World Report took a harsher tone, writing that "members of the Arizona state House have made a strong bid for this year's coveted 'nuttiest legislative body' award."

Steve Benen at the Washington Monthly took the whole Republican Party to task, since the bill was supported by members of the Arizona GOP: "The fact that fringe lunacy is being taken seriously at this level suggests a strain of contemporary Republican thought that's gone stark raving mad," he wrote.

Jon Healey of the Los Angeles Times noted in an opinion piece that Republicans and Tea Partiers in California have taken some steps to distance themselves from the "birther movement," recently rescinding an invitation to Orly Taitz, a leading figure in the birther movement, for a Tea Party event. Still, he wrote that the legislation demonstrates "that the best political myths have half lives that rival some radioactive isotopes."

The legislation still needs to clear major hurdles before become law: the Arizona House needs to give its formal approval, as does the state Senate. Then, the governor needs to sign it. The bill was tacked on as an amendment to another bill that modifies how candidates' names appear on the Arizona ballot.

Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett has expressed concern that the amendment may violate the Constitution, the Arizona Republic reports, since it would create state-level eligibility requirements for a federal campaign.

Arizona lawmakers also this week approved a highly controversial immigration bill. It would require police to question people about their immigration status if there's reason to suspect they're in the country illegally, which civil rights groups, the Mexican embassy, a Roman Catholic cardinal and others have said would lead to racial profiling.

[ebnnsva]

Lolo Soetoro, Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro, baby Maya Soetoro
and 9 year old Barry Soetoro (Barrack Obama)



This registration document, made available on Jan. 24, 2007, by the
Fransiskus Assisi school in Jakarta, Indonesia, shows the registration of Barack Obama under the name Barry Soetoro made by his
step-father, Lolo Soetoro.

Name: Barry Soetoro
Religion: Islam
Nationality: Indonesian


How did this little INDONESIAN Muslim child - Barry Soetoro,
(A.K.A. Barack Obama) get around the issue of nationality to
become President of the United States of America?

PART 2:

In a move certain to fuel the debate over Obama's qualifications
for the presidency, the group "Americans for Freedom of Information"
has released copies of President Obama's college transcripts from
Occidental College.

The transcript indicates that Obama, under the name Barry Soetoro,
received financial aid as a foreign student from Indonesia while an
undergraduate at the school. The transcript was released by
Occidental College in compliance with a court order in a suit brought
by the group in the Superior Court of California. The transcript shows
that Obama (Soetoro) applied for financial aid and was awarded a
fellowship for foreign students from the Fulbright Foundation Scholarship
program. To qualify for this scholarship, a student must claim foreign
citizenship.

This document provides the smoking gun that many of Obama's
detractors have been seeking - that he is NOT a natural-born citizen of
the United States, necessary to be President of these United States.
Along with the evidence that he was first born in Kenya, here we see
that there is no record of him ever applying for US citizenship.

Gary Kreep of the United States Justice Foundation has released the
results of their investigation of Obama's campaign spending. This study
estimates that Obama has spent upwards of $950,000 in campaign
funds in the past year with eleven law firms in 12 states for legal
resources to block disclosure of any of his personal records.

Mr. Kreep indicated that the investigation is still on-going but that the
final report will be provided to the U.S. attorney general, Eric Holder.

Mr. Holder has refused comment on this matter.

Where's The Media ?

[diputsdiputs]

Obama slams pending Ariz. immigration law
Gov. faces Saturday deadline; law requires suspected illegals to show I.D
****************************************************************************************************************************************Sooooooooo, Does this mean if Obama goes to Arizona, and can not produce proof of citizenship ie; birth certificate, he will be deported?

[doctor_know]

LOL.... AZ is full of idiots..... LOL

[watkinsjr2000]

There are obviously a damned bunch of idiots in the Arizona state legislature. And, yes, they ARE making the state a national laughing stock.This obviously is all about President Obama's race & the fact that a bunch of white goobs don't like the fact that the U.S. has a black president.Nobody would even think of doing something as moronic as this if our president was white.

This issue of President Obama's birthplace was settled beyond any doubt long ago. Obama released copies of his birth certificate years ago. The state of Hawaii has repeatedly verified that Barack Obama's birth certificate is real & that the official state records show that he was born in Hawaii.On top of that, archived information from two newspapers in Hawaii show that at the time of Obama's birth, notices of same were printed in each newspaper.Very few Americans could offer more proof that they are U.S. citizens than Obama already has. This is stupid beyond belief!

[Greg from Nashville]

How embarrasing for the reasonable folk who live in AZ. It's pretty amazing that our first black has to deal these ignorant people. His mom was an American, that's all that needs to be said. Citizenship is hereditary. John McCain was born in Panama, is he any less of a citizen. NO, bunch of idiots.

[KPeters_from_UK]

What the hell is going on in Arizona? I thought it was a sane state.

Aside from the crazies running Arizona, may I ask that if there was indeed a problem with the birth certificate would not John McCain raised the issue? Would he not have tried to challenge Obama's legality especially when he realized he was sinking in the polls? Would not have the top ranking Republicans, the minority whip raised this issue with the courts. Or all of these high ranking Republicans actually just part of the Obama conspiracy? :-)

Come on people think!

[Bigheader]

Arizona is the prefect conservative small government state. If you ever visit you will notice poor roads, an over whelming police presence to write tickets, poor community planning, substandard schools and a lots of shopping malls to generate tax revenue.

[erichsh]

by skarrzpop April 23, 2010 9:23 AM EDT
You are truly an idiot..do us all a favor and either kill yourself or sterilize your kids so they dont replicatre your insanity!

Chalk one up to skarrzpop for civility and intelligent debate, yessirree! Way to go, skarrzpop!

[U_S_Drug_Addict]

this is just an attempt to go after Obama and bar him from the 2012 elections in the backwards state of Arizona.
it wont work....

[erichsh]

The Division of Motor Vehicles won't accept a newspaper clipping announcing my birth as proof of identification. I need my birth certificate to get a driver's license. I guess such stringent standards don't apply to the office of the Presidency.

"McCain?s Canal Zone Birth Prompts Queries About Whether That Rules Him Out "
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/politics/28mccain.html

Oh, the outrage! The NY Times is the laughingstock of the nation!

[jimbom121]

Did you not read the article? The newspaper announcement was one example provided to the birthers that he was born in the US. He has provided the certificate...you can do a Google search to find it.

[DavidB2009]

what in the world is going down there?! first this unconstitutional gestapo-like immigration bill then this crap? Arizona is quickly rising to the top pass South Carolina as the most racist backwards state in the union. Let them get separated from the union.The average IQ will go up by 5 points... what a laugh!