Birth Certificate

Florida Dems To Posey: Drop The Birther Bill

Eric Kleefeld | July 28, 2009, 11:08AM

In the wake of last night's vote by the House to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Hawaii's statehood -- and its status as the birthplace of President Obama -- the Florida Democrats have put out a statement challenging Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL) to drop his proposed legislation to require birth certificates from presidential candidates.

The Florida Dems' statement cites Posey's own vote in favor of the Hawaii resolution, contrasting that with his being the lead sponsor of the widely-ridiculed "Birther Bill":

Now that Rep. Bill Posey not only allowed the House of Representatives to certify the Presidential Election in January, but he also voted last night in Congress to declare President Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, the question he needs to answer today is: Will Bill Posey withdraw his crazy bill questioning President Obama's citizenship?

Because the people of Florida's 15th District need a Congressman focused on creating jobs and fighting for NASA, hopefully last night's vote shows that Posey has finally taken off his tinfoil hat and will finally get to work on the issues that matter.

Late Update: Posey spokesman George Cecala told me that Posey will not withdraw the bill, and it is not a personal slight against President Obama -- citing Posey's vote for the Hawaii resolution as evidence. Instead, it's about ensuring transparency and disclosure as a general principle for an issue that has come up multiple times throughout American history for politicians like Chester Arthur, Charles Curtis, John McCain and others.

"Quite honestly, the bill was never about Barack Obama and Mr. Posey, and I think that's true as to what our original statement was back when we introduced the bill," said Cecala. "The bill is simply about implementing the Constitution through legislation, and Mr. Posey is not going to withdraw the bill."

Bill Posey

Lead Birther Bill Sponsor Votes To Recognize Hawaii As Obama's Birthplace

Eric Kleefeld | July 27, 2009, 9:00PM

The House resolution to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hawaiian statehood -- which included language recognizing the state as President Obama's birthplace, in a none-too-subtle jab at the Birthers -- passed this evening by a 378-0 vote.

Among the Yes votes: Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL), the lead sponsor of the infamous "Birther Bill" to require presidential candidates to present their birth certificates, and who had previously said he wouldn't "swear on a stack of Bibles" that Obama is a natural-born American citizen. Several other co-sponsors of the Birther Bill also voted yes: Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Dan Burton (R-IN), John Culberson (R-TX), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Randy Neugebauer (R-TX), and Ted Poe (R-TX).

On a side note, some suspicions were raised against Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) for blocking the passage of the resolution by voice vote earlier today, noting the absence of a quorum. However, as Salon reported, Bachmann's move was an entirely normal procedural motion to pave the way for a roll call vote later on -- indeed, she'd made similar motions today on other non-controversial resolutions -- and she in fact voted for the resolution when the vote was held.

I will also say as a long-time Bachmannologist that I've never seen any probable cause to suspect her of Birtherism. She's certainly said a lot of interesting stuff against Obama, but she hasn't trodden on this particular ground.

Bill Posey

Birther Bill Sponsor Receives Financial Support From House GOP Leadership

Eric Kleefeld | July 21, 2009, 4:51PM

The latest FEC filings show that Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL), the author and main sponsor of the infamous "Birther Bill" in the House to require Presidential candidates to submit proof of citizenship, is receiving financial support from some prominent people -- namely, the House GOP leadership, in their regular donations to GOP incumbents.

Minority Leader John Boehner's PAC, the Freedom Project, donated $5,000 to Posey's campaign in June. Minority Whip Eric Cantor's ERICPAC gave $7,500.

On the one hand, there's nothing unusual about the leadership giving money to an incumbent. On the other hand, not every incumbent has refused to say for sure that President Obama is a U.S. citizen