Ryan: I Asked for Stimulus Money by Accident

VP candidate has repeatedly denied asking for funds for Wisconsin businesses
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 17, 2012 7:13 AM CDT
Ryan: I Asked for Stimulus Money by Accident
Paul Ryan listens to the crowd response during his speech at a campaign stop at Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio, Aug. 16, 2012.   (AP Photo/Phil Long)

Paul Ryan has repeatedly denied that he requested funds for Wisconsin businesses from Barack Obama's signature stimulus bill, despite documented evidence to the contrary. Yesterday he finally admitted he had—but said he hadn't realized he was doing it. Ryan's stimulating ways first came to light in a 2010 Wall Street Journal report. In an interview at the time, Ryan said he wouldn't vote against something "then write to the government to ask them to send us money."

But the Boston Globe reported this week that Ryan did just that, sending at least four letters to the Department of Energy on behalf of two Wisconsin companies looking to develop "green jobs." Ryan again denied those reports yesterday, before finally backtracking with a statement saying the requests were "treated as constituent service requests," according to the New York Times. "This is why I didn't recall the letters earlier. But they should have been handled differently." Ryan still insists, however, that the stimulus didn't boost the economy. (More Paul Ryan stories.)

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