The current tumult on the Hill over Bush’s $87 Billion request simply proves — to me at least — what I’ve been thinking all along. Bush should have asked for a lot more money for Iraq. Bush famously rejects the notion of “negotiating with himself” on tax cuts, i.e. cutting his requests before the opposition even asks, and that’s what he should have done here. Because any number Bush picked would have been deemed too high by the Democrats and other critics. If he’d asked for $50 billion or $150 billion the response would have been identical. Sure, you might say that $87 was the exact amount needed. All the better, Bush could have come in under budget.