Have I gotten Paul Ryan wrong all these years!
In my defense, I was making my evaluation as Ryan blasted the stimulus program created by Congressional Democrats and President Barack Obama and rose to prominence in his party and among fiscal conservatives as the Number One Smart Guy On Capitol Hill Opposing Federal Spending.
So I didn't think he was an ally on things I supported, like the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter train killed off by Wisconsin GOP legislators serving Scott Walker - - to the glee of the Wisconsin Club For Growth - - or green energy programs that can have their best impact when funded by major federal dollars and backed with the federal government's imprimatur.
Well, shame on me.
Today's Boston Globe shows me how I misjudged Ryan, though as I said, I was not expecting Ryan with his Tea Party cred and Boy Scout charm to be saying one thing publicly about Big Bad Government, and something else - - the exact opposite - - to officials working for Pres. Obama.
From the Globe:
In 2009, as Rep. Paul D. Ryan was railing against President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package as a “wasteful spending spree,” he wrote at least four letters to Obama’s secretary of energy asking that millions of dollars from the program be granted to a pair of Wisconsin conservation groups, according to documents obtained by the Globe...
The documents show that Ryan’s attempts to take advantage of the stimulus funds even after he voted against them was more expansive than previously reported...
Ryan also received authorization for preliminary engineering funds for a commuter-rail system linking Kenosha, Racine, and Milwaukee, and a streetcar expansion project in Kenosha.
A version of this posting also at thepoliticalenvironment.
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