Three Vermont lawmakers are urging the administration of Governor Peter Shumlin to sever ties with a Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist who was shown on video saying it was the "stupidity of the American voter" that helped pass national health care reform.
In a letter dated Monday, Republican state Reps. Kurt Wright, Patti Komline and Heidi Scheuermann say the "arrogant and disrespectful" comments by Professor Jonathan Gruber will undermine Vermont's health care reform efforts.
Gruber has a $450,000 contract with the state of Vermont to help develop a financing mechanism for the state's proposed single payer health care system.
WCAX-TV reports Shumlin condemned Gruber's remarks, but said the state will continue to depend on him for his economic analysis of single-payer.
Gruber, reached by email, declined to comment.
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