Daily Briefing: The Pattern in Washington

• North Korea agrees to stop its nuclear program in exchange for recognition and aid from the U.S. and allies. [WP, NYT]
• Military now uses death count as measure of success in Iraq; top military spokesman claims “great successes” against insurgents as wave of attacks strike the country. [WP]
• State, local, and federal officials were still preparing 448-page crisis strategy when Katrina hit. [WSJ]
• Katrina raises stakes for budget and Bush’s fiscal policies. [USAT]
• Clinton assails policies of the Bush administration: “You can’t have an emergency plan that works if it only affects middle-class people up, and when you tell people to go do something they don’t have the means to do, you’re going to leave the poor out.” [NYT]
• Panel headed by Jimmy Carter and James Baker propose 87 election reforms including the use of photo identification, regional primaries, paper trails for e-voting, national standards, and nonpartisan administrator. [WP, NYT, LAT]

• Bush proposes Urban Homesteading Act for low-income housing. [WSJ]
• Local and state officials in the Mississippi tried frantically to pick up FEMA’s slack. [WP]
• Influential preacher Bishop T.D. James directed message at Bush during Friday prayer service: “It is not so important what we say, it is important what we do. Defining moments of history cannot be defined by rhetoric and words or anger, or soliciting people to respond in a tempestuous way. But real leadership is defined by what we do.” [NYT]
• Graham says Roe is safe with Roberts: “He’s not an ideologue. But he is a true strict constructionist, believing in a limited role of a federal judge in our society.” [LAT]
• Michael Brown’s fall from power “is not so much an aberration as part of a pattern in Washington.” [WP]
• Clintonites, including Albright and Gore, attended inaugural Clinton Global Initiative meeting. [LAT]
• Sheehan to Hillary: “You say [the war was a lie] or you are losing your job.” [NYT]
• This year, “the drama is coming not from candidates but from ballot measures.” [WP]
• “How much of a Republican can Schwarzenegger afford to be?” [LAT]

READ MORE: White House, al gore, arnold schwarzenegger, bill clinton, budget, cindy sheehan, election reform, george w. bush, hillary clinton, iraq, james baker, jimmy carter, john g. roberts, katrina, lindsay graham, michael brown, military, north korea