Congressional mistake

Houston Chronicle Editorial:

Constitutional scholars teach that the Founders intended Congress and the president to tussle over the power to wage war. The president is commander in chief of the armed forces, yet Congress has the authority to declare war and the absolute power of the purse.

Seldom has the tussle been more visible and titanic than it is now. The U.S. House and Senate are ready to consider a version of legislation that, in exchange for appropriating funds to fight the war in Iraq, would direct troop withdrawal to begin later this year and be substantially completed by fall 2008. The president says he will veto any bill with a timetable.

Ronald Cass, dean emeritus of the Boston University Law School, usefully spoke on this subject Tuesday at a gathering of the Houston lawyers chapter of the Federalist Society. He noted Congress could cut off war-fighting funds on a date certain, but was unlikely to use this blunt club.

As for Congress' power to order redeployment of U.S. forces, Cass said that authority rested with the commander in chief. He compared the tactics of Democratic leaders to a young Catholic woman who confesses that she frequently looks at herself in the mirror and thinks herself pretty.

"Is this a sin, Father?" she asks.

"No," the priest replies. "It is only a mistake."

...

So, was the priest saying she was not pretty or she was wasting her time contemplating the issue? Perhaps both in this case. But, the consequences for this mistake are enormous and adverse to our interests.