If the Obama Administration really wants to do something productive with the stimulus money, use $100 billion or so and begin to harden the United States Infrastructure against EMP.

A single high-altitude nuclear weapon detonation (perhaps 200 miles) would create an electromagnetic pulse that would cover most of the continental United States, some of Canada and Mexico.  The EMP would disable much of the electronic equipment in the United States.  Even a small – by nuclear weapons standards – fission weapon would do significant damage.  EMP would mean loss of power for everyone.  This would mean no delivery of food or medicine or any other supplies.  People that require water and sewer systems would be without power.  Computers, TVs, radios would be damaged.  The damage would not be a matter of resetting circuit breakers.  Decades would pass before we were back to a 1920 level.  Half a century before we were back to the 1970s.  Tens to hundreds of millions of people would die in the United States within a year from starvation, disease, and untreated medical conditions.  Many more hundreds of millions from around the world would die from ripple effects.

A country such as Iran or North Korea with a nuclear weapon and a delivery system could put the United States back to 1850 in terms of technology in 1 second.  Without a weapon defense system, the United States is completely helpless.

Do we want to be at the mercy of an insane leader of a foreign country?

Two steps that must be taken as soon as possible:

1. Missile defense to stop the EMP before it starts.

2. Try to “harden” much of the United States electrical network.  This is not a quick solution, but should be started.

If we are ever hit by EMP it will be too late.