You really don’t have to drive too far in Montana to see a sign that tells us “Project Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.”

I think they are a little silly.  We actually paid for the work done on the roads, sidewalks, etc., with our tax dollars – so maybe if they really needed to put up a sign, the sign should read, “Paid for by Your Taxes. Thank You!”

Congressman Denny Rehberg does not like the signs, either.

They constructed some new sidewalks in my neighborhood.  The placed signs along the streets to tell us how the new sidewalks came to be.  

A good thing is now my daughter can walk on the sidewalk to school instead of in somebody’s yard or on the road.  The bad thing is they missed a few places where there were alleys, so if you are in a wheelchair, you are out of luck when it comes time to cross the alley.

I decided to go to Recovery.Gov and see how Montana was doing.  I found the government was spending money like drunken sailors (a point that candidate Jon Tester made about the Congress of 2006, but now he likes that kool-aid).

This is the same website that showed congressional districts and zip codes that did not exist in one of their reports.  They have supposedly cleaned it up, some.

I picked Great Falls, Montana, as a place to check.  I picked the zip codes for Great Falls, Montana:  59401 through 59406.  Zip Codes 59403 and 59406 are Post Office boxes.

Of course, these numbers could all be incorrect from the data input (and from my calculations, too).

To set the scene, Great Falls, Montana, has a population of approximately 56,875.

If my math is correct, Great Falls has received $86,035,472.00 in “federal contracts, grants, and loans awarded from October 1 to December 31, 2009.  Also included is data on completed and incomplete Recovery projects awarded from February 17, 2009 to September 30.”

That’s about $1500.00 per man, woman, and child in Great Falls (if my math is correct).

I think I would rather have a tax cut…