Don't ever believe it when a member of Congress says that as a body they can walk and chew gum at the same time.
Case in point? Libya.
Members of both sides of the aisle were steaming mad at President Obama for his decision back in March to have the U.S. join in a NATO mission to bring down Muammar Qaddafi's government without their authorization, and even voted on ending our mission there when they said he had violated the War Powers Act by failing to come before them when the conflict passed the 90-day mark in June. The 1973 War Powers Act requires presidents to seek congressional approval for any hostilities lasting more than 60 days.
But then this little thing about getting the debt ceiling raised intervened.
This article appears in Jul 21-27, 2011.