I disagree that it should be F-22 vs F-35.
The F-15 and F-16 (and A-10) have worked extremely well shoulder to shoulder for decades - designed for different but somewhat overlapping roles. Like many USAF F-series airplanes, over time the roles evolve and expand according to the need and capability that modifications enable. So be it with the F-22 and F-35. We need more F-22's, 170 or so just isn't enough.
But now, I don't know how the economics will pan out, so I can't honestly conclude whether it really is a good idea. And politics being what is these days, maybe, as someone already suggested, that may be all this is.
Just too d*&n bad we squandered the immense F-22 R&D costs, spreading it over so few airplanes. All presumably because the F-22 isn't the airplane for the Afghan and Iraq conflicts, as if the threats we face remain stationary.