So the US finds vast untapped oil reserves beneath the surface of Afghanistan, enough to make the perennially impoverished country one of the top two or three oil producers in the world.

Well, not exactly. Not oil. But according to this story just out from the New York Times, “a small team of Pentagon officials and American geologists” has discovered vast mineral deposits in the country including iron, copper, cobalt, gold and lithium totaling in today’s dollars perhaps as much as $1 trillion. The big one of these is lithium, which could end being something like oil in a post hydrocarbon economy since it’s the key to making batteries for a lot of modern electronics. Read More

House Minority Leader John Boehner on This Week today said he’s now in favor of lifting the cap on BP’s liability in the Gulf oil spill. Though currently law makes BP responsible for cleaning up the actual oil, it limits its liability to $75 million. Senate Democrats have pushed to raise the cap to $10 billion or get rid of the cap entirely. Boehner now seems to be suggesting he’s on board with the latter option but only in the case of BP and this spill, not in general going forward.

Once you look close, politics at the state level can get pretty crazy. And South Carolina doesn’t get to have all the fun. Nevada’s a pretty wild place too.

Dawn Gibbons is the first lady of the state as the soon-to-be-ex-wife of lame-duck Gov. Jim Gibbons (R), who got beat in the Republican primary last Tuesday. She has a radio show now. And despite being a Republican, she’s supporting Sen. Harry Reid (D). She also served in the state legislature with Reid’s opponent Sharron Angle and actually went head to head with Angle in the 2006 Republican primary for the state’s 2nd Congressional district. (They both lost to another candidate, Dean Heller.) And she talked with our Christina Bellantoni about the fight Reid has on his hands.

The definitive Alvin Greene interview reel, presented by Rachel Slajda. Watch.

Oklahoma state senator proposes ballot measure to prohibit “liberal judges” from imposing sharia law in America.

Colbert: “It’s BP’s well, so the only person to blame is Barack Obama.” Watch.

A lot of people go overboard trying to get their number of Twitter followers up. But Steve Forbes is apparently dragooning the employees of Forbes to round up new Twitter followers to get him into Twitter following big leagues.

Gov. Charlie Crist (I) vetoes anti-abortion law in Florida.

In all the back and forth yesterday over who pays for the Gulf oil spill, remember the particular issue got started by statements made last Friday by Thomas Donohue, President and CEO of the US Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber just released another statement clarifying those comments … Read More

Here’s an example of the tight and perhaps impossible balance Blanche Lincoln has to pull off over the next six months.

Here’s her telling the main in-state paper that she wasn’t the deciding vote on Health Care Reform while she simultaneously has an ad running in which she says she cast “the deciding vote to pass health care reform.”