Eye On Boise

Scholar: History belies suggestion founding fathers would have been appalled by ruling

Posted by Betsy

July 2, 2012 7:05 a.m. • 3 comments

Idaho Congressman Raul Labrador reacted to Thursday's U.S. Supreme Court decision on health care reform by saying the nation's founding fathers would be “appalled.” He wasn't the only one invoking the founding fathers in the wake of the controversial decision. But David Adler, constitutional scholar and director of the Andrus Center at Boise State University, said a look at history suggests a different conclusion.

“In the 1790s, the Congress on two different occasions passed statutes that imposed health insurance mandates,” Adler said. Congress at the time was “filled with people who wrote the Constitution.” You can read my full Sunday column here at spokesman.com.

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