8/9     In my opinion, the President retains the final authority, and ultimate
        responsibility, of taking the country to war.  Congress is just there
        to provide him the money, and legal authorization in case he wants to.
        (Let's exclude the short < 90-day engagements the President can
        send off without authorization.)
        On the opposing side, one can say that Congress shares significant
        responsibility for authorizing a war.
        What do you think?
        \_ Your opinion is stupid. Apparently you were napping in US Gov't
           101. It's called "checks and balances." Perhaps you should readup
           on the Federalist Papers.
           \_ 50 years ago you might have been right.  The War Powers Act
              has allowed Congress to adbicate its obligation to declare
              war.  They've kept their funding authorization responsibility,
              but there are no watchdogs left on the matter..
              \_ A) The War Powers Act (enacted in 1973, so you're confused)
                 sought to limit the Executive branch from so-called "police"
                 actions such as Vietnam and Korea.
                 B) The War Powers Act was an attempt to clearly dilineate
                    what the Executive could or could not do in times of
                    crisis in committing US Military (either abroad or
                    domestic).
                 C) The War Powers Act puts a specific time limit of 60 days
                    which can only be extended by Congress on any military
                    action.
                 D) It requires the executive to report to Congress any
                    military action taken by US Forces.
                 Before you go off spouting nonsense again, try to actually
                 read the War Powers Act.
           \_ What's the right answer?
              \_ The right answer is that there is no "right answer"
                 because the dynamic between the executive and the
                 legislative is constantly changing. Also, the executive
                 and the legislative are obviously incestious, so the only
                 "real" right answer is that responsibility falls upon
                 government. Since we are supposed to be a representative
                 government the ultimate responsibility falls upon the
                 people as a whole. Obviously reality is a bit more complex
                 than this.
        \_ I think yer contradicting yourself. And yer dumb.
        \_ War Powers Act
           \_ I can spend the 15 minutes to google for stuff I thought I knew
              in high school and college -- can you summarize your
              interpretation anyway?  Thanks.
        \_ Opinion?  It's simple law you can find a copy of on the net.  Your
           opinion, nor anyone else's here, has anything to do with it.  In
           my opinion the penalty for shooting stupid people should be a free
           dinner at a nice restaurant.  The law says I go to jail for a long
           time.  I prefer my opinion but we follow the law.
           \_ Can you summarize your interpretation of the law for me?  Thanks.
              \_ My summary: I'm not on the United States Supreme Court, so my
                 interpretation is academic at best.  Why do you care about
                 my or any layman's useless interpretation or opinion?
                 \_ You seemed to have a good grasp of what the law meant
                    ("It's [a] simple law ...").  Then you implied that you
                    needed to be on the Supreme Court to understand it ("I'm
                    not on the United States Supreme Court ...")
                    It sounds like you're flip-flopping to me.