Reply #41: You are under the wrong impression

[sangh0]

I was talking about the law, not principle. I'm sure you realize that they are not the same.

the net effect is to remove the Constitutional check on the executive branch by making a Congressional declaration of war something so easily sidestepped.

And you continue to argue principle, and not the law. Again:

A resolution is not legally binding. It changes nothing. It does nothing except communicate an opinion that's received the votes of a majority of Congress members. It does not, because it can not, change the Constitution, or any Constitutional requirements to wage war. It can not change those Constitutional requirements for two reasons

1) There is no Constitutional requirement for waging war.
2) Even if there were, a law can not overule the Constitution. Only a Constitutional Amendment can change the Constitution.

Now, please unknot those knickers about my use of the term Dangerous Precedent. I think that it is quite reasonable to expect our representatives to have learned from (recent) history.

WHile it may be reasonable to expect, it is irrelevant. Dangerous Precedent or not, it is not a "blank check". The CINC already has that. It's the result of the Constitution making POTUS CINC, and the establishment of a standing army.

When the Constitution was first ratified, there was no standing army. Therefore, it would be impossible for POTUS to unilaterally order the army to invade another nation, for the simple reason that there was no (standing) army to order around.

The Framers realized that POTUS would need the consent of Congress, in the form of a Declaration of War, in order to wage war because first Congress would have to vote to pay for the establishment of a military force. CINC cant pay for the establishment of an army because the Constitution clearly puts that power in the hands of Congress, and Congress alone. IOW, the combination of Congress holding the pursestrings, and the absence of a standing army, made it impossible for POTUS/CINC to wage war without Congressional approval. But that all changed with the establishment of a standing army.