Bobby Jindal Says He Would Sign Louisiana ‘Birther’ Bill
On the same day that Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoed a proposed Presidential eligibility law, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal appears prepared to sign a similar bill pending in the state legislature in Baton Rouge:
BATON ROUGE — Gov. Bobby Jindal would sign a bill requiring presidential candidates to provide a copy of their birth certificate to qualify for the Louisiana ballot if it reaches his desk, a spokesman said Monday.
“It’s not part of our package, but if the Legislature passes it we’ll sign it,” press secretary Kyle Plotkin said.
House Bill 561 was filed last week by two Republican lawmakers. President Barack Obama’s citizenship has been challenged by some groups, derisively called “birthers,” despite numerous independent investigations finding that documents and contemporary news reports show that Obama was born in Hawaii.
The bill by state Rep. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport, and Sen. A.G. Crowe, R-Slidell, would require federal candidates who want to appear on Louisiana ballots to file an affidavit attesting to their citizenship, which would have to be accompanied by an “original or certified copy” of their birth certificate.
The requirement also would apply to candidates for U.S. Senate or the House of Representatives.
The text of the bill is very similar to the Arizona Bill:
The chairman and the secretary of the state central committee or the national chairman of the political party, as the case may be, shall file, in addition to a certificate of nomination filed pursuant to this Section, an affidavit of the presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate in which each candidate states his citizenship, age, and residence. Each affidavit shall include references to and attachment of documents that prove that the candidate meets the requirements for president of the United States prescribed in Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution of the United States of America, including the following:
(a) An original or certified copy of the candidate’s birth certificate that includes the date and place of birth, the names of the hospital and the attending physician, and signatures of the witnesses in attendance.
(b) A sworn statement or form that identifies the candidate’s places of residence for the preceding fourteen years.
As with the Arizona law, the Certification Of Live Birth that Barack Obama was issued by Hawaii would be insufficient to satisfy the law which means, of course, that the same Constitutional objections apply to this proposed law. There’s no indication whether this law really has a chance to pass the Louisiana legislature, but the comments from Jindal’s office are, at the very least, disheartening.
Why doesn’t he just hold up a sign reading “Pay attention to me!” It would be about as effective, and no less pathetic.
Uh-oh! Sounds like somebody’s testing the waters for a Presidential campaign!
Whew! What a relief. Now I can tell the “Draft tom p for president” movement that I am ineligible to run for office because the Sovereign State of Texas! doesn’t have all that info on their birth certificates.
Idiocy.
Here’s the requirement from the bill:
And yes, as with the Arizona bill just vetoed, even the records currently issued by the State of Louisiana will not suffice under this bill if it becomes law.
Here’s what Louisiana issues:
Even the long-form that LA issues does not include the name of physician or signatures of witnesses. As with the Arizona bill, these requirements seem designed to specifically exclude President Obama, as Hawaii does not issue certificates with all of the info required by the two bills. Ironically and hilariously, they would also exclude every citizen of those states, and many others (if not all of them). And Bobby Jindal says he’d sign it.
If we lived in a sane world, all of this stupidity would be enough to insure the death of the Republican Party as we know it. Sadly, birtherism will only make them more popular with a disturbingly large portion of the population.
It looks like this law is written worse than the Arizona law. Arizona required the name of the hospital and attending physician “if applicable.” I know plenty of people, young and old, who were not born in a hospital and did not have a physician present. I’m not sure how, or if, they could comply with this law.
Of course, I’m not sure why this wouldn’t be unconstitutional:
Yikes, speaking of poorly worded, I meant:
Man, if you had to ask me who was more likely to be on the side of idiocy re: The Birther Movement–Jindal or Brewer–I would have said Brewer in heartbeat.
Man, if you had to ask me who was more likely to be on the side of idiocy re: The Birther Movement–Jindal or Brewer–I would have said Brewer in heartbeat.
Me too. I’m a bit shocked. I guess Bobby’s running for president, and Brewer might be slightly less crazy than I thought she was.
Mantis — Let’s not get all giddy with praise for Brewer, simply because she declined (this time) to hurl herself off the cliff. This is still the woman who decided to protect tax cuts for the rich by removing funding for organ transplants, sentencing hundreds of her citizens to agonizing death.
” I guess Bobby’s running for president”
Yeah, but if he signs the law, not in Louisiana….
Yeah, but if he signs the law, not in Louisiana….
Zing! Good point.
that’s it ,i’ve got enough of La. and it’s bigoted politics.if they pass this bill and jindal continues to be a pawn for the bigotry of the republican party;i’m out of here!i can’t take anymore of this bull-shit.people down here has got life and bull-shit completely mixed up!!!
I think anyone in America that is capturing a lifestyle in OUR country should be required to show a birth certificate: school kids, emergency rooms, welfare, voters, candidates, teachers, etc. …. we have to know how many people in our country cannot produce legitimate documents in our country… this sould be a minimum requirement, with NO exceptions.