Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) has ascended to political stardom among conservatives for his staunch opposition to big federal spending programs, but the newly minted Republican vice presidential nominee sought grant money from the 2009 stimulus package he has consistently derided.
The Boston Globe reports today that Ryan penned four letters to Energy Secretary John Chu in 2009 to request millions of dollars for two Wisconsin conservation groups through the federal government’s sweeping American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, often simply referred to as the stimulus package.
Both groups ultimately secured the funds — including one that received a $20 million grant — but the letters were submitted at a time when Ryan was in the vanguard of the Republican Party’s opposition to the federal program, decrying it as an example of wasteful government spending.
