[corp-focus] Need a Birth Certificate?

[robert weissman]

Need a Birth Certificate?
By Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman

Let's say you need to get a driver's license.

To do this, many states now require a birth certificate.

Let's say you were born in New York.

So, you type in "birth certificate New York" into Google.

Up comes the web page for the New York Department of Health.

Let's say that you need the birth certificate within a week.

What do we learn from the New York Department of Health's web page?

We learn that the state of New York has contracted out with a company to
rip you off.

The rip off works this way.

The company will charge you $30 for the birth certificate.

Then there is "an additional fee" of $15.

Then, if you want it within a week, there is a FedEx fee of $24.95.

To which we ask -- since when does FedEx charge $24.95 to overnight a
single piece of paper?

Total value of the deal -- $69.95.

We needed a birth certificate from New York recently.

And we almost fell into the trap of paying the rip off price.

But then we got to talking to a friend in Niagara Falls -- where the
birth happened many moons ago.

And lo and behold, the friend said -- wait a second.

Just call the clerk of the city of Niagara Falls.

And we did.

A live person picked up the phone.

And this is what the real live person in the clerk's office said:

Go to the Niagara Falls Clerk's web page.

Print out the one page birth certificate application form.

Write out a check in the amount of $10 payable to the "City Clerk."

Mail the form, the check, the copy of your passport, and a
self-addressed stamped envelope to the city clerk in Niagara Falls.

And we did.

And lo and behold, within a week, we had our birth certificate.

For $10.00. Plus two 37-cent postage stamps.

That's a grand total of $10.74.

That's a savings of $59.21 over the rip off price from the State of New
York.

Now, we know a scam when we see one.

And we wanted the state of New York to admit it.

But we got the runaround.

A month ago, we called the press office at the State's Health Department.

We left numerous messages for Joe DiMura.

He wouldn't return out call.

Then we spoke to a woman named Denise.

She said she would get right back to us.

She didn't.

Then finally, just yesterday, a man named Robert Kenny called.

He said that the web site was set up as a convenience to the citizens of
New York.

No it wasn't, Robert -- it was set up to rip them off!

Look at the numbers -- $10.74 compared to $69.95.

That's the farthest thing from the truth, Mr. Kenny said.

If the state of New York can't do it for $10, then they should at least
inform people that they don't have to be ripped off by their own web
site -- that instead they can get the birth certificate for a mere $10
from a city clerk.

The New York State Health Department's web site is run by VitalChek
Network, Inc., which is owned by the Alpharetta, Georgia-based
ChoicePoint, Inc.

We've put in a number of requests now to the state of New York for
detailed information about VitalChek's contract with the state of New York.

To no avail.

But we still want to know --

If the city of Niagara Falls can get us a birth certificate for $10 in
less than a week, why can't the state of New York?

If you have any tips along these lines, please write us at:
russell@corporatecrimereporter.com.

In the meantime, if you need a birth certificate, bypass the state and
go straight to your friendly local clerk.

Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime
Reporter, <http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com>. Robert Weissman is
editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Multinational Monitor,
<http://www.multinationalmonitor.org>. Mokhiber and Weissman are
co-authors of On the Rampage: Corporate Predators and the Destruction of
Democracy (Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press).

(c) Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman

This article is posted at:
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