Daily Briefing: 'Going to Hell in a Handbasket'
• Bush, during address tonight, will announce plans to put the nation "on pace to spend more in the next year on the storm's aftermath than it has over three years on the Iraq war." [ WP , NYT , USAT ]
•Distrust and disapproval ofBushand the government at large is growing, according to two new polls. NBC/WSJ poll: 55% want to withdraw troops from Iraq and 75% believe the nation is not prepared for nuclear, biological or chemical attack. CBS/NYT poll:Bush's approval rating slips to 41% and 68% thinkBushlacks a clear plan for hurricane victims. [ WSJ , NYT ]
•Democrats complainRobertsis evading questions.Roberts: "I'm not standing for election."Hatch: "If people can't vote for you, then I doubt that they can vote for any Republican nominee." [ WP , NYT , WSJ , WP , NYT ]
• Bushat the United Nations: "When a country or a region is filled with despair and resentment and vulnerable to violent and aggressive ideologies, the threat passes easily across oceans and borders and could threaten the security of any peaceful country." [ WP , WP , NYT ]
•Nearly 150 killed and over 500 injured by at least a dozen suicide blasts in Baghdad; Al Qaeda group claims responsibility. [ NYT , USAT ]
•Republicans hope to test conservative ideas such as school vouchers in the rebuilding of Gulf Coast. [ WSJ ]
• Michael Brownsays on Monday, August 29th, he "was beginning to realize things were going to hell in a handbasket." [ NYT ]
• Blanco, Naginaccept blame for failures. [ USAT ]
•Congressional hearings weigh FEMA's future. [ WSJ , NYT ]
•9/11 commission members are unsettled by lack of progress on domestic security. [ NYT ]