The idea that any Obama record is “sealed” is a falsehood, to start. The word “sealed” when applied to documents ordinarily refers to records that would normally be public, but that a judge has ruled cannot be released without the court’s permission. Common examples of truly “sealed” documents include records of crimes committed as a juvenile or records of adoptions. None of the claims in this message refers to records actually “sealed” in that usual sense.

In some cases, the records the Tea Party claim are “sealed” are actually public, and open for anyone to see. Other supposedly “sealed” records are normally private documents that Obama hasn’t released — and that other presidential candidates haven’t released either.

So as with earlier versions, this is little more than an attempt to raise suspicions by asking for records that aren’t ordinarily made public, without any evidence that those records contain anything derogatory. Obama’s college records are not “sealed” by a court order. It would be illegal under federal law (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974) for Occidental, Columbia or Harvard Law School to give any former student’s records to reporters or members of the public without that person’s specific, written permission. Obama hasn’t released them, but neither have other presidential candidates released their college records. George W. Bush’s grades at Yale eventually became public, but only because somebody leaked them to the New Yorker magazine. Bush himself refused to release them, according to a 1999 profile in the Washington Post.

Obama did write a paper on nuclear disarmament for an honors course in American foreign policy during his senior year, but it wasn’t the sort of “thesis” that some colleges require for graduation and keep on file in their libraries, like those that Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama released. During the 2008 campaign, reporters were told that Columbia had not retained a copy of Obama’s 1983 paper, and that Obama didn’t have a copy, either. NBC News contacted his former professor, Michael Baron, who said he looked for his copy but couldn’t find it, and thought he probably tossed it out eight years earlier in a move.
NBC quoted Baron as saying the paper likely would have disappointed Obama’s critics. “The course was not a polemical course, it was a course in decision making and how decisions got made. None of the papers in the class were controversial.”

The Tea Party can’t refute any of this.

Don’t be so quick to discount Mitt Romney’s ability to lead our country because he a wise businessman. I would not pay more taxes than I owed either…would you? Why discredit someone for paying his fair share. He made smart decisions on how to handle HIS finances. It doesn’t make us any better to covet another person’s posessions, it only makes us less content and less thankful for what we already have. Congratulations to Mitt Romney for being the best at what he chose to do in his life.

Our greatest national security threat is our economy. Mitt Romney has the business experience to navigate a struggling economy. Who would you rather manage your retirement account, Obama or Romney? Medicare, social security, etc. are the retirement accounts for our country. I can assure you that if Romney/Ryan win the election, I will lose money…period. However, that is a sacrifice I am willing to make for the future of my kids.

And if you think republicans are going to invade your private life, your bedroom, your choices, etc., think of what China or Saudi Arabia will do to your childrens’ private lives and choices when our debt cannot be paid. President Obama had his chance and it is time for our country to try another direction.