Rod38um Posted August 3, 2009 Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 This company has spent a fortune developing this technology in Ohio. Everything is ready to go. The DOE promised a loan guarantee if they met certain criteria, which they did. Obama promised to support the project when he campaigned here and now is silent. The DOE decided to shit can their promise b4 they even got the evaluation report back. By the way, a loan guarentee is like a co-signer and USEC even offered to put up an additional 1 billion of their own assets as colatteral.... still Doe says noIf you would like to keep thousands of Ohio jobs.... call the white house in support of this company. Ask Obama to keep his promise..... call our senators and congressmen. They say they want clean emmissions free energy..... here is a company that does that and its ours.... not some foriegn outfit...... here is an article....Backers of Piketon uranium project push for federal loan guarantee Friday, July 31, 2009 1:54 PM By Jonathan Riskind THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH WASHINGTON -- After losing his job of 17 years at a Chillicothe paper mill and suffering through nine months of unemployment, Scott Barker hoped he was set for decades when he landed a job in February with USEC to do mechanical maintenance at the company's uranium-enrichment site in Piketon, Ohio. But Barker, 38 of Kingston, came to Capitol Hill today to protest an Obama administration decision he fears is about to land him right back on the unemployment line. Barker was one of dozens of USEC employees from Ohio who rode a bus overnight to attend a part news conference, part rally thrown by Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Loveland, asking the White House to reverse a decision by the Department of Energy to reject USEC's application for a $2 billion loan guarantee the company says it needs to complete financing of the $3.5 billion project. "I thought I was good until retirement," Barker said, standing next to his 11-year-old daughter, Sydnee. "We have proven that it (the enrichment technology) will work." The about 150 USEC workers at the event held signs reminding Obama that when he was a presidential candidate campaigning in Ohio last fall he promised support for the loan guarantee in a letter to Gov. Ted Strickland, a fellow Democrat. "Obama, keep your promise to Ohio," read one. "Not a bailout ... just a loan," read another. "Ohio needs jobs. Save USEC," pleaded a third. Barker and other workers face layoffs this month when USEC begins "demobilization" of the project and says it will let go some 2,000 direct or contract employees -- out of about 5,700 -- in Ohio, Tennessee and 10 other states where research and manufacturing work is being done. It isn't clear how many of USEC's approximately 600 current Piketon workers will be affected. The Department of Energy says that USEC's centrifuge technology to enrich uranium for use as nuclear power plant fuel hasn't proved itself commercially viable and that the federal government can't put taxpayers at risk with a loan guarantee. But energy department officials say the technology has promise and they want the company to accept $45 million in additional research funding and reapply for the loan guarantee in 12 to 18 months. "USEC simply did not meet the legal requirements to qualify for the loan guarantee and therefore by law the Department of Energy is unable to grant the guarantee at this time. But because we believe in the workers at Piketon and the promise of ACP, we have offered $45 million over the next 18 months to advance its research and development, which will give USEC a chance to reapply for the loan guarantee in the future," said White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage today. The Energy Department and also says it is going to expand cleanup efforts at the Piketon site, where USEC in 2001 shuttered an older technology enrichment plant that for decades produced first weapons-grade, then commercial-grade material. That expansion, worth $150 million to $200 million a year for four years, will mean an additional 800 to 1,000 extra jobs, the department says. But USEC says without the loan guarantee now it cannot get the financing it needs and sustain the enrichment project. However, USEC and the energy department apparently are talking behind closed doors about whether there is a possible compromise or way forward short of an immediate granting of the entire loan guarantee. But the company and its workers insist the "American Centrifuge" technology already is working in a test plant and has shown itself to be commercially viable, and that the energy department isn't properly weighing all the facts. Barker and other workers at the rally said the proposed cleanup jobs would last for a few years, while enrichment plant jobs would be there for their entire careers. "These men and women have devoted their lives to making America better, more secure and more independent," said Schmidt, who was joined on the House floor earlier this week by Democratic Rep. Zack Space of Dover in a bipartisan exchange criticizing the administration. But now, she said, the workers are on "the doorstep of economic catastrophe." 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Rod38um Posted August 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 Jean Schmidt requested that each of us call this # at least 10 times Thursday, Friday and Today. You will be on hold for a couple minutes but they are calculating the volume of these calls. Please call if you can We’re trying to flood the White House with phone calls this morning beginning at 9am EST. Phone # 202-456-1414 Leave message asking Obama to honor his commitment to loan guarantee for USEC Inc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod38um Posted August 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 Still have to try......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siggywiggy Posted August 3, 2009 Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 :popcorn:i voted for McCain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod38um Posted August 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 Appreciate any help in calling....... it directly affects my livelyhood.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerik Posted August 3, 2009 Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 Curious, IP-- who would you have preferred to vote for? My room-mate was all about Giuliani, until he realized that all he ever said was "When I (91191119111911) and then I (911911911911911)!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad324 Posted August 3, 2009 Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 (edited) I forwarded this to my Mom, she will have a field day calling since this her new hobby for her semi-retirement Edited August 3, 2009 by Bad324 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerik Posted August 3, 2009 Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 I can certainly agree about the Republican party being unrecognizable- I could have a debate with a Goldwater, or even a Buckley, even though I may disagree with what they're saying. I could even agree that there's a need for at least some balance of conservatism (old-style), if for nothing else than to keep the debate moving and remind us not to go hog-wild with the money. The kind of cartoons they've been putting out lately, though, it's pretty much impossible to have any kind of civil debate with. Neocon ideologues, religious zealots, or corporatists, none of which are truly conservative in the classical sense. Even though I can certainly find plenty to disagree with the Democrats on (particularly where my guns are concerned, but they're still too corp-friendly for my tastes), I still find them wholly less terrifying than the idea of Sarah Palin in charge of my nuclear arsenal.Such is life in the two-party system. Until we get instant runoff voting, or enough people get involved to take both parties back to something sane, nothing is going to change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strictly Street Posted August 3, 2009 Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 (edited) We’re trying to flood the White House with phone calls this morning beginning at 9am EST. Phone # 202-456-1414direct # for comment line Phone # 202-456-1111So I called and left a nice comment with the nice person on the other end of the phone.It was nice. Edited August 3, 2009 by Strictly Street Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod38um Posted August 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 Thanks guys for the calls, It is very appreciated!.As far as the republican party goes. I think they really need to put on an education campaign. There are so many people, especially young people that have no idea about economics. They are all too willing to believe that the government can and will make life better...... and for free. I think someone needs to go into the universities and even high schools and put on a little seminar, something fun, basic but educational. I think it would make a difference. Face it, our country is in a financial hole we cant dig out of..... we need to change our tax policy, our trade policy and especially our spending policies. We simply have to promote business and exportation of american products. Thats the only way we can get dollars flowing in the right direction! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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