No one can seem to agree on the actual number of jobs created or saved (if any) by Mr. Obama's near trillion dollar stimulus program. In fact it seems that nobody in the regime can give a clear answer regarding what actually constitutes a job created or saved.  

The construction industry has been particularly hard hit by the recession and unemployment remains high in spite of the heavily promoted shovel ready projects that were to be one of the pillars of the Obama stimulus bill. At long last there appears to be some good news about new construction, driven by rising sales amid surprisingly strong demand.  

After only 18 months in office, Mr. Obama's innovative economic programs combined with his dynamic new approach to foreign policy and national security have helped fuel the demand for a seemingly forgotten segment of the construction industry. The long dormant fallout shelter business is alive and well and on the road to economic recovery thanks to the current climate of fear and uncertainty. 

Things have changed since the Cuban Missile Crisis created the first wave of backyard fallout shelters, these days the fear of nuclear war is not the sole driving force in the emergency shelter industry and the development of a nationwide system of shelters means that apartment and condo dwellers will no longer be excluded due to property requirements.  

 According to USA Today a number of companies like Hardened Structures of Colorado and Radius Engineering (Texas) are experiencing an impressive increase in sales in spite of the current recession. Hardened Structures of Colorado offers a wide variety of survival shelters including an entry level six person steel unit with nuclear, biological and chemical filtration starting around $36,000. Radius Engineering sells a vast array of self-contained structural fiberglass shelters which can accommodate as many as 2,000 persons for up to 5 years.  

Last December Robert Vicino unveiled the Vivos project which seeks to develop a network of fortified underground shelters located across America. The new system of shelters would provide a safe haven for their clients in the event of a solar flare, asteroid, nuclear attack or any of 10 listed catastrophic events. The price for a place in one of these shelters is projected to be $50,000 per adult or $25,000 per child. According to the web-site "The governments of the world have been busy building vast underground shelter complexes for the elite."  

With our society seemingly crumbling around us and a growing number of new foreign threats from hostile forces, the thought of an underground shelter may not seem so peculiar after all. Of course the threat of a killer asteroid, nuclear war, tsunami or solar flare seem fairly remote, but a catastrophe shelter sounds like a pretty good place to escape the terrifying and destructive forces being unleashed by the Obama regime.    

paboehmke@yahoo.com