To the Congressional Democratic Leadership

Just a few key points:

• You were not put in power to enact a Republican agenda. Republicans were doing that just fine when they were in the majority. With regards to the war, that meant giving Bush whatever he wanted. Given the importance of the war to the 2006 electorate, you are betraying voters when you do the same thing.
• Republicans will not criticize you less because you have capitulated to Bush. They will criticize you no matter what you do on the war, so you might as well do what's right.
• The Constitution was written such that wars cannot long be run by just one branch. Congress raises armies and funds them, the president is commander-in-chief. If there is a disagreement between Congress and the White House about whether to continue a war, there is no reason that the Congress must be the one to capitulate (particularly when the president is overwhelmingly unpopular). The president can't fund his war without your help. You just gave it to him without any meaningful conditions.
• The majority in Congress is not supposed to get rolled. By proposing legislation that all of the minority party likes and most in the majority do not, you've set yourself up for an embarrassing loss.
• More soldiers are going to die.