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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huckleberries Online

What Would Founding Fathers Do?

Idaho U.S. Rep. 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 for Public Policy 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. The first required the shipping industry to purchase insurance for its sailors to cover prescription drugs and visits to the doctor, Adler said, due to sailors’ frequent injuries and illnesses from scurvy and other causes/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

Question: Do you think the Founding Fathers would be "appalled" by 21st century health care reform?



D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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