In Southwest Virginia, where a veteran Democrat is facing a tougher than usual reelection challenge, your tax dollars are helping his re-election -- typical of something now happening across rural America.  Ninth District Congressman Rick Boucher (D) says the Commerce Department will give a grant of $9,237,760 to Citizens Telephone Cooperative so the company can expand its broadband network.  The company's headquarters is in Floyd. The money will be used to add 186 miles of fiber-optic cable.Similar grants are being made in rural North Carolina, some $83 million in total as part of a huge nationwide stimulus program. Overall, the federal Recovery Act was to invest $7.2 billion in expanding broadband access nationwide - $4.7 billion through the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and $2.5 billion funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities...(Read Full Post)