The "new" birther tactic, Obama's SSN

Alferd_Packer

Philosopher
Alferd_Packer
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Messages
8,746
This started with Orly Taitz and is now being pushed by WND and other nutjobs.

There are two separate arguments here (typical birther goalposts). One, is that the president’s SSN was issued in Connecticut and he lived in Hawaii.

The other is that he has “too many” SSNs.

Both arguments have no real validity, but watch for them to be flogged repeatedly by the birthers.
 
Alferd_Packer said:
This started with Orly Taitz and is now being pushed by WND and other nutjobs.

There are two separate arguments here (typical birther goalposts). One, is that the president’s SSN was issued in Connecticut and he lived in Hawaii.

The other is that he has “too many” SSNs.

Both arguments have no real validity, but watch for them to be flogged repeatedly by the birthers.
Click to expand...

Who or what is WND? Oh, and please don't eat me ;)
 
Its actually quite old (from late last year):

short story short:
Orly hired private PI (Neil Sankey - who is a kook himself)
PI searched through various DB's including the Social Security Index.
PI found 39 (or 37?) SSN's to various names of Obama, Barack, and Barry. NONE of course are connected to Barack H Obama
Orly then claims that the president used all these SSN's

For the Connecticut SSN - in 1973 the SSA issued numbers based on the CITY and ZIP code of where the request was mailed from:

http://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/geocard.html
"Since 1973, Social Security numbers have been issued by our central office," the Social Security website explains. "The first three (3) digits of a person's socialsecurity number are determined by the ZIP code of the mailing address shown on the application for a social security number."
Click to expand...

For all we know, Obama's mother could have mailed in a request for an SSN assignment for Barack, and put a return address of that of a friend or relative in Connecticut. She WAS traveling 2 weeks after obama was born (to Seattle) and probably didn't want mail being returned if she filed for it from Hawaii.

Also seeing that Obama worked at a Baskin Robins location in Honolulu, HI in 1975, i dont see what the issue is:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2009-01-22-obama-hawaii_N.htm
 
Last edited:
You are assuming that she applied for a SSN right after he was born. That is the way they do it nowadays, but it is not necessarily the way things were done back then.

I know this for a fact because my older sisters and I have consecutive numbers. My mom applied for everyone at the same time.
 
Alferd_Packer said:
You are assuming that she applied for a SSN right after he was born. That is the way they do it nowadays, but it is not necessarily the way things were done back then.

I know this for a fact because my older sisters and I have consecutive numbers. My mom applied for everyone at the same time.
Click to expand...
according to one of the birther articles obamas SSN was issued in 1979, he would have been 18 so it makes sense

considering that he would have been 13 or 14 working at BR in 1975 he probably didnt pay taxes on his earnings, so he wouldnt have needed an SSN


also, the reason parents file for an SSN at birth now is because now you need one to claim the child as a dependent on your taxes
 
Last edited:
My guess is that she didn't get a SSN for him until she applied for a passport in 1965.

At that time, she was working for a government aid agency.

Also the assignment of numbers by state is not a hard and fast rule.
 
Alferd_Packer said:
You are assuming that she applied for a SSN right after he was born. That is the way they do it nowadays, but it is not necessarily the way things were done back then.

I know this for a fact because my older sisters and I have consecutive numbers. My mom applied for everyone at the same time.
Click to expand...

Further to this. Today, if you want to take a deduction/exemption for your child on your taxes, you need to provide the SSN of the child.

This is a relatively new requirement (since the mid 1980s, IIRC) and did not apply to Obama as a child. Unless Obama wanted to open a bank account (or more likely his parents wanted to open one for him) as a child, he wouldn't have needed an SSN until he got his first paid job.
 
Alferd_Packer said:
My guess is that she didn't get a SSN for him until she applied for a passport in 1965.

At that time, she was working for a government aid agency.

Also the assignment of numbers by state is not a hard and fast rule.
Click to expand...

If you are out of the country when you apply for a SSN, where did it go at that time? Clearly you present your credentials for that at a consulate, but then the paperwork goes elsewhere.
 
drkitten said:
Further to this. Today, if you want to take a deduction/exemption for your child on your taxes, you need to provide the SSN of the child.

This is a relatively new requirement (since the mid 1980s, IIRC) and did not apply to Obama as a child. Unless Obama wanted to open a bank account (or more likely his parents wanted to open one for him) as a child, he wouldn't have needed an SSN until he got his first paid job.
Click to expand...

This is correct. I was born the same year as Obama and I didn't get an SSN until I was 17 when I got my first real job. I was born in New Jersey but my SSN was issued when I was in Connecticut.
 
Spindrift said:
This is correct. I was born the same year as Obama and I didn't get an SSN until I was 17 when I got my first real job. I was born in New Jersey but my SSN was issued when I was in Connecticut.
Click to expand...

A likely story.

Let's see your long form birth certificate.
 
So, if they find out eight years down the road the Obama is really Tunisian or Chinese or something, does he have to forfeit all his wins as President?
 
BenBurch said:
If you are out of the country when you apply for a SSN, where did it go at that time? Clearly you present your credentials for that at a consulate, but then the paperwork goes elsewhere.
Click to expand...

I believe at that time, the SSN was assigned by whichever office the consul decided to mail your paperwork to (which would probably have been DC); today I think it's more formally the DC office that handles overseas applications.
 
aggle-rithm said:
So, if they find out eight years down the road the Obama is really Tunisian or Chinese or something, does he have to forfeit all his wins as President?
Click to expand...

Yes and the presidency will have restrictions on TV apperances, bowls and scholarships for years after he leaves.
 
Alferd_Packer said:
This started with Orly Taitz and is now being pushed by WND and other nutjobs.

There are two separate arguments here (typical birther goalposts). One, is that the president’s SSN was issued in Connecticut and he lived in Hawaii.

The other is that he has “too many” SSNs.

Both arguments have no real validity, but watch for them to be flogged repeatedly by the birthers.
Click to expand...

It would seem that a lot of Birthers are too young to know that SSN's didn't used to be issued at birth. I was born in 1955 and didn't have a SSN until I was in junior high school (13-15 years old).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom