That's not what i meant. I don't know what money Obama is asking for. I stated that. I don't think the vets should pay for it. I'm just defending Obama in general and throwing in my two cents about people who join the military simply for the money and a better way of living. It shouldn't be about that. You should join th emilitary because you have love for your country and want to stand up to people who do us wrong.

Roberta, hun, he's an American.

http://www.factcheck.org/2009/05/was-obama-born-in-the-usa/


Was Obama Born in the USA?

May 7, 2009
Updated: May 28, 2009

Q: Has a "smoking gun" been found to prove Obama was not born a U.S. citizen? Did he attend Occidental College on a scholarship for foreign students?

A: This chain e-mail is a transparent April Fools’ Day hoax. It fabricates an AP news story about an nonexistent group, and makes false claims about Obama and the Fulbright program.

FULL QUESTION

I recently received this and wanted to know if it is accurate, and what the implications are.

Thanks

April 1, 2009

AP- WASHINGTON D.C. - 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. Released today, the transcript indicates that Obama, under the name Barry Soetoro, received financial aid as a foreign student from Indonesia as 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 the scholarship, a student must claim foreign citizenship. This document would seem to provide the smoking gun that many of Obama’s detractors have been seeking.

The news has created a firestorm at the White House as the release casts increasing doubt about Obama’s legitimacy and qualification to serve as president. When reached for comment in London, where he has been in meetings with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Obama smiled but refused comment on the issue. Meanwhile, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs scoffed at the report stating that this was obviously another attempt by a right-wing conservative group to discredit the president and undermine the administration’s efforts to move the country in a new direction.

Britain’s Daily Mail has also carried the story in a front-page article titled, “Obama Eligibility Questioned”, leading some to speculate that the story may overshadow economic issues on Obama’s first official visit to the U.K.

In a related matter, under growing pressure from several groups, Justice Antonin Scalia announced that the Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to hear arguments concerning Obama’s legal eligibility to serve as President in a case brought by Leo Donofrio of New Jersey. This lawsuit claims Obama’s dual citizenship disqualified him from serving as president. Donofrio’s case is just one of 18 suits brought by citizens demanding proof of Obama’s citizenship or qualification to serve as president.

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 ongoing but that the final report will be provided to the U.S. attorney general, Eric Holder. Mr. Holder has refused to comment on the matter.


FULL ANSWER

The claim is that Obama received a Fulbright scholarship for foreign students, proving that he is not a U.S. citizen and therefore not eligible to be president. Supposedly this was reported by The Associated Press. But the claim is false and the story is a hoax.

April Fake

We contacted The Associated Press just to confirm what should be obvious, that no such news story ever appeared on the news agency’s wires. Jack Stokes, the AP’s manager of media relations, gave us this statement:

AP: The story purported to be from The Associated Press on April 1 is fake.

Furthermore, the group that the fake story credits with gaining release of the supposed "smoking gun" documents is also a fake. Searches of news accounts and Internet sites showed no trace of any group called "Americans for Freedom of Information," until recently. On May 6 such a group did appear, but only as a joke to make fun of anyone who had fallen for the April Fools’ Day gag. An anonymous blogger set up a site calling itself "Americans for Freedom of Information: We Do Not Exist." Its first entry begins:

"Americans for Freedom of Information" May 6: We are the Americans for Freedom of Information. We are a fictitious group of individuals; i.e. we do not exist. And yet, for a nonexistent organization we wield great power and knowledge! O Yea, Verily. OK, actually, not verily at all. Anti-verily, as a matter of an utter lack of fact.

Update: On May 11 an "Americans for Freedom of Information" Web site was registered to a woman in Hilton, N.Y. named Debra J.M. Smith. This site of course did not exist when on date of the fake AP story, and Smith told us she is not responsible for the claims it makes.

Where Truth Ends

Barack Obama
Not all versions of this e-mail carry the telltale April 1 dateline, however. And more than a month after it first appeared we continue to get questions about whether it is true, and to see postings on conservative blogs that seem to accept its claims as fact. But not only is the message a hoax, its key claims are as false as they can be.

Among the few claims that are true in this message is that from fall 1979 through spring 1981 Obama attended Occidental College, a small (currently 1,825 students, according to its Web site) school in Los Angeles. After that he transferred to Columbia University in New York City to finish his undergraduate education. The photo here is from his application to Occidental.

It’s also true that Obama was on scholarship while at Occidental, according to articles in the Los Angeles Times and Boston Globe.

But that’s about where the truth ends. For those who might believe that even a fake news story quoting a nonexistent organization might still have some validity, we offer these facts:

No Fulbright: Contrary to what this e-mail claims, Obama’s scholarship wasn’t a Fulbright. It’s true that many foreign students come to the U.S. under the Fulbright program, sponsored by the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. But Fulbrights for foreign students are primarily intended for graduate students studying for masters’ degrees or Ph.D. degrees, not for college freshmen and sophomores.

No "Soetoro": Another false claim is that Obama attended and received financial aid "under the name Barry Soetoro," using the surname of his Indonesian stepfather Lolo Soetoro. The college’s Director of Communications Jim Tranquada told us there’s no record of that. He told us in an e-mail:

Occidental spokesman Tranquada: Contemporary public documents, such as the 1979-80 freshman ‘Lookbook’ published at the beginning of President Obama’s first year at Occidental, list him as Barack Obama. All of the Occidental alumni I have spoken to from that era (1979-81) who knew him, knew him as Barry Obama.

No Records: It’s not even true that Occidental has released Obama’s student records, as claimed in the message. Nor have courts ordered any such records to be made public. According to the college spokesman:

Occidental spokesman Tranquada: To date, all of the litigation filed regarding President Obama’s student records at Occidental has been rejected by the courts. Occidental has not released his transcripts or his student file.

Furthermore there’s no trace of the supposed Daily Mail story headlined "Obama Eligibility Questioned," either on the newspaper’s Web site or in the Nexis database of stories published by the paper. The claim that the Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a case brought by Leo Donofrio is also false; the high court in fact refused to grant a hearing in that case back on Dec. 8, 2008.

There is a group called the "United States Justice Foundation," and it does list a Gary Kreep as its executive director. But we find no report of any study of Obama’s legal spending on its Web site, or any mention of turning information over to Attorney General Eric Holder. We’ve asked Kreep about this in an e-mail message, and will update this item should we receive a reply.

Update: May 28: Kreep responded simply: "It’s all a hoax."

-Brooks Jackson

On one hand, the wounded folks did sign a contract that the feds are obligated to. On the other hand, the free market and charity would probably find a better way to care for them (recall the Walter Reed stories?) as they typically do.

They did take the land from the Indians, btw.

Do any of you follow politics at all? Yes.

Do you know who these people really are? I try to.

"You let a man walk in to the presidential election, who you never even heard of before, or know his past, who has not yet proven that he is even a citizen of this country, since he went to college on a loan as a foreign student from Malasya."

I investigated him before the election.

It was proven quite awhile ago that he was born in Hawaii. So, yes, he's a citizen of this country.

My Bad.
Thats why I say the media sucks!

I saw the speech personally myself.

What Obama said was that he would give veterns a choice of keeping the healthcare that they are now provided, or they could choose to have private healthcare.
WHAT HE DIDNT SAY WAS....
If a person chose to keep their present healthcare, would it still pay for them, or would they have to start paying a part of it, or what!!
So its kinda like a tricky word thing to me.

So if I am a vetern and I choose to stay with covered health care, will it still be coverd.
Or if I am a vetern who says yes that I believe we should have a choice because maybe some of us veterns can afford to pay some...

what will happen?

Ide be willing to bet you, that Obaama would immediately say , "OK now your responsible for your own healthcare,
and come out looking like a hero for putting all that money back into the economy.
JMO
What I didnt hear him tell me was what the consiquences of my choice would be???

Very good point, and I am glad to see it brought up. Not just at Walter Reed, but all VA medical facilities it seems, Veterans are being pushed along a conveyer belt.

A perfect example; my ex-wife was picked up by Florida police on a safety pick up after threatening suicide; she had marks on her wrist. She insisted on seeing a va doctor, after the police took her to the civilian emergency room. She spent approximately 45 minutes at the VA urgent care office, and was then released to go back home. I have seen the medical records of the incident, and all VA did was pat her on the back, put a bandaid on her wrist and send her on her way because she promised not to cut herself again.

This my friends is NOT good health coverage for our vets.

No....According to my roomate Byteme, he says that they had a "live" birth cirtificate on him, which is different from a US birth cirtificate. Check it out!
How did he get a loan as a foreign student for college, if he was a citizen?

Do any of you follow politics at all? Yes.

Do you know who these people really are? I try to.

"You let a man walk in to the presidential election, who you never even heard of before, or know his past, who has not yet proven that he is even a citizen of this country, since he went to college on a loan as a foreign student from Malasya."

I investigated him before the election.

It was proven quite awhile ago that he was born in Hawaii. So, yes, he's a citizen of this country.

Hey!

Im 1/2 Cherokee...so who the hell did we take the land from...

the cavemen????

Like Duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!