"Putting America to Work"

Shifting gears for a moment, I have to ask: Who thought it would be a good idea to put up signs like this at road construction sites all across the U.S.? While moving out to Illinois, I lost count of the number of these signs we passed. In fact, it seemed like we spent a third of our 21 hour drive in constructions zones brought to us by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

Without expressing any opinion on this act or its creators, I have to wonder why no one seems to have put much thought into the decision to dot the country with these signs. Are these signs supposed to create a positive perception of ARRA and its authors? Am I supposed to be thinking, "Gee, I am so glad that I get to add hours to my travel time so that we can stimulate the economy"? Don't get me wrong, I think that updating our infrastructure is important, I just think that it may have been better to wait to put the signs up until after the roads were done. That way, people would think, "These smooth, fast roads were brought to you by President Obama and his buddies in congress," instead of, "This horrible traffic and added commute time were lovingly brought to you by your President."