Watch the ticker to the left....

...The White House has informed congressional leaders that it is preparing a new budget request for between $60 billion and $70 billion to help cover the mounting costs of the reconstruction and military occupation of Iraq, sources on Capitol Hill said last night.

The planned request -- which congressional budget analysts said will be nearly double what Congress expected -- reflects the deepening cost of the five-month-old U.S. occupation and serves as an acknowledgement by the administration that it vastly underestimated the cost of restoring order in Iraq and rebuilding the country's infrastructure.[Emphasis mine.]

The article goes on to talk of Bush’s appeal to the U.N. for help in rebuilding and administering Iraq and to say that the president is trying to resolve "festering disputes" over his Iraq policies before they turn into political liabilities.

Before?! I don't understand why Bush is not mired to his pointy little head in political shit already! He has been given the freest ticket to ride of any president I’ve ever known.

To the U.N. I say, tell Bush to take a flying folkdance, especially as long as he insists on all authority residing with the U.S.

Complete story here.