Paul Ryan, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, has admitted that he sought millions of dollars in federal government economic stimulus cash after twice denying he had done so.
The embarrassing reversal was the first major campaign trail mistake made by the Wisconsin congressman and came as a new poll showed that he had put his home state into play for Mitt Romney, who is now leading President Barack Obama there.
Ryan said that he had forgotten that his office had sent letters, which were signed by him, to the US Energy and Labour departments asking for money from the stimulus programme on behalf of two Wisconsin companies.
'They should have been handled differently, and I take responsibility for that,' Ryan said in a written statement released after an Ohio TV interview on Thursday in which he had once again denied requesting stimulus funds.According to the Boston Globe, Ryan also told Boston's WBZ Radio two years ago that he 'did not ask for stimulus money' in response to a question about the recovery program.
Request: Ryan said in letters to Energy Secretary Steven Chu that stimulus cash would help his state create thousands of new jobs
Ryan said: 'I'm not one who votes for something and then writes to the government to ask them to send us money.'
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