Unstable Isotope

Opinionated chemist, troublemaker, blogger on national and Delaware politics.

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BREAKING NOW: Delaware Awarded Race To The Top Funding

Filed in National by on March 29, 2010 19 Comments

It’s just been announced – Delaware and Tennessee are the first awardees of the Department of Education’s “Race To The Top” Grant. Update: The New York Times has a story up now. There’s not much more detail on how much the grant is and what it’s going to be used for. Delaware and Tennessee beat […]

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GOP Donors Are Suckers

Filed in National by on March 29, 2010 40 Comments

If Republican donors were mad about the Palin family clothes grab on donor’s dimes, I wonder how they’ll feel about this: The Daily Caller examines the Republican National Committee’s FEC filings, and discovers a few things that are not likely to go over well with GOP donors. Such as: Once on the ground, FEC filings […]

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FBI Raid On Militia Group

Filed in National by on March 29, 2010 13 Comments

The FBI conducted a raid on a Christian militia group called Hutaree. Sources have said the FBI was in the second day of raids around the southeastern Michigan city of Adrian that are connected to a militia group, known as the Hutaree, an Adrian-based group whose members describe themselves as Christian soldiers preparing for the […]

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The News Journal Admits Delaware Liberal Is Correct

Filed in National by on March 28, 2010 29 Comments

The News Journal has obviously been poking around DL again. They wrote an article about DD’s post on Michelle Rollins “Millionaire Michelle Rollins Takes Bonus From Wilmington Trust TARP Funds.” The News Journal represents this as a partisan attack but also admits that the post is accurate. The numbers being tossed around at DelawareLiberal are […]

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Weekend Open Thread

Filed in National by on March 27, 2010 17 Comments

Happy weekend everyone! I hope you’re having a good one. A little birdie told me that liberalgeek is having a birthday today, so everyone wish him a happy birthday. I think he’s turning 29 today. So let’s start this open thread. As expected, President Obama has made some recess appointments: The White House has just […]

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Government Checks Are OK For Me, But Not For Thee

Filed in National by on March 27, 2010 6 Comments

The Washington Post interviewed James Vanderboegh, the self-styled “patriot” who called for people to vandalize the offices of Democratic lawmakers. Vanberboegh lives on Social Security disability. This anti-government warrior, this self-styled leader, sponges our tax money? I guess he really deserves that money while other people are just lazy.

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Friday Open Thread

Filed in National by on March 26, 2010 19 Comments

Welcome to Friday of what has been both a weird and wonderful week. I hope you have awesome weekend plans! What’s on your mind? Let’s get this open thread spinning. Before you feel too sorry for the newly-purged conservative David Frum, take a look at this blast from the past (written by Frum in 2003). […]

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Student Loan Reform

Filed in Delaware by on March 26, 2010 25 Comments

Somewhat overshadowed by all the attention on the health care reform bill was the student loan overhaul that was added into the reconciliation package: Ending one of the fiercest lobbying fights in Washington, Congress voted Thursday to force commercial banks out of the federal student loan market, cutting off billions of dollars in profits in […]

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Modified Reconciliation Fix Passes

Filed in National by on March 25, 2010 2 Comments

The modified reconciliation fix has passed the House for the second time, 220-207. This means that the agreed-upon fixes agreed to by both the House and the Senate are now done. I hope that Democrats have learned a lesson from this – if they stay together as a caucus and anticipate Republican tactics, they can […]

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Thursday Open Thread

Filed in National by on March 25, 2010 19 Comments

Welcome to Thursday. So far my day is going better than yesterday and catching up on sleep really helped with that. So, tell us, what’s on your mind? Open thread! A win for the good guys! Jamie Leigh Jones gets her day in court, thanks to Senator Al Franken. The Fifth Circuit eventually held that […]

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Mike Castle: Pro-Repeal?

Filed in Delaware, National by on March 25, 2010 13 Comments

Mike Castle held a fundraiser with pro-repeal Republican Senator Orrin Hatch. The Republican discipline on health care reform is starting to disappear though. Some Republicans like Mitt Romeny (who is having trouble explaining why the MA individual mandate is o.k. but the national mandate is not), Rep. Mike Pence and Sen. Jim DeMint want a […]

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Where Are My Smelling Salts?

Filed in Delaware by on March 25, 2010 11 Comments

Where did I put my fainting couch? I can’t find any pearls to clutch! The News Journal weighs in on the Biden hot mic moment: When you call a press conference, watch what you say in front of the microphones. Thanks to modern technology, the globe can now hear your whisper. … All Mr. Biden […]

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Reconciliation – 2 More Votes To Go

Filed in National by on March 25, 2010 20 Comments

The Senate finished its “vote-a-rama” early this morning (votes on all the B.S. amendments Republicans made to the reform reconciliation package). The Senate parliamentarian ruled for the Republicans on 2 points of order this morning. Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said Republicans consulting with the Senate parliamentarian had found “two minor […]

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