Lay and Skilling guilty  —  Ex-CEO and founder convicted on fraud and conspiracy charges in Enron case.  —  HOUSTON (CNNMoney.com) - Enron former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling and founder Kenneth Lay were found guilty Thursday of conspiracy and fraud in the granddaddy of all corporate fraud cases.

Breach Was More of the Spirit, Not the Letter, of the Constitution  —  The FBI raid on Rep. William Jefferson's congressional office was an aggressive tactic that broke a long-standing political custom.  But while it might violate the spirit of the Constitution, it might not violate the letter …

Rove-Novak Call Was Concern To Leak Investigators  —  On September 29, 2003, three days after it became known that the CIA had asked the Justice Department to investigate who leaked the name of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame, columnist Robert Novak telephoned White House senior adviser Karl Rove …

Pelosi move triggers revolt  —  Furious black lawmakers, rallying behind Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.), were pulled back from the brink of open revolt against House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in an emergency meeting with her yesterday.  —  The meeting with a handful of CBC members …

Fragile Senate Coalition Set To Pass Bill on Immigration  —  The Senate moved to the verge of passing landmark immigration legislation yesterday, scheduling a final vote for today on a bill that would tighten the borders while allowing millions of illegal immigrants to stay in the country and permitting new guest workers to come and go.

The Shadow of a Marriage  —  The two sides of Hillary Rodham Clinton — the opposites that make her potential presidential candidacy such a gamble — came into sharp focus Tuesday morning at the National Press Club.  —  For the better part of an hour, the senator from New York held forth …

Abbas stuns Hamas with talk of referendum  —  RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday he will call a national referendum on accepting a Palestinian state alongside Israel if Hamas does not agree to the idea within 10 days.  —  Abbas' surprise announcement …

Warning of Calamities and Hoping for a Change in 'An Inconvenient Truth'  —  CANNES, France, May 23 — "An Inconvenient Truth," Davis Guggenheim's new documentary about the dangers of climate change, is a film that should never have been made.  It is, after all, the job of political leaders …

Q1 GDP growth fastest in 2-1/2 years  —Text+WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy shot forward at an upwardly revised 5.3 percent annual rate in the first quarter, the fastest growth in 2-1/2 years, as companies built up inventories and exports strengthened, a Commerce Department report on Thursday showed.

Justice Department Probe Foiled  —  An internal Justice Department inquiry into whether department officials — including Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and then-Attorney General John Ashcroft — acted properly in approving and overseeing the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program …

This Glass Is Half Full, Probably More  —  HERE is a political Rorschach test for this midterm election year.  What's your reaction to the following:  —  These are the best of times in many ways.  Americans are wealthier than previous generations, they are healthier and they enjoy a higher standard of living.