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After a seven-year absence, author Ethan Canin returns with America America, a novel that explores power and influence in politics past.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday for the first time that the Second Amendment to the Constitution protects an individual's right to own a gun. Gun rights advocates say there will be a flood of lawsuits attempting to ease regulations on gun ownership. Big city mayors and police chiefs predict an increase in gun violence.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to weigh in Thursday on the constitutional meaning of the right to bear arms. It will be the last decision of the term.

Customers are lining up to withdraw their money from IndyMac, the failed bank taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation late Friday. It reopened Monday as IndyMac Federal Bank. The FDIC says depositors have nothing to worry about.

The nation's two largest mortgage finance companies are in major trouble. With housing prices down and foreclosures up, they've lost about $11 billion in recent months, and all indications are that they will continue to lose much more. Joe Nocera, columnist for the New York Times, explains.

Critics of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac say the mortgage giants are too big and far too willing to take risks. They also say the companies have too close a relationship with Washington lawmakers, and that the entities shielded themselves from tighter regulation.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson spent Thursday on an apology tour after making crude remarks about Sen. Barack Obama's approach to faith-based initiatives and the black community. Veteran pollster Ron Lester and Laura Washington, of The Chicago Sun-Times, discuss the issues behind Jackson's comments and the fallout.

A U.S. government plan to restore confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would temporarily raise the Treasury Department's credit line to the two mortgage financiers. The idea is to shore up the companies' finances and keep money flowing to the mortgage market. What does this mean for mortgage holders and taxpayers?

Homeowners might think of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as just the big dogs of the mortgage business, but in Washington, D.C., they're known as big players in lobbying. The two companies managed to stave off government regulation for years by lobbying hard — and spending generously.

Two proponents of the plan to prop up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson — testify before Congress on Tuesday to compel Congress to take action. Meantime, despite government assurances, stocks are plunging in the finance sector.