The War Party's Achilles' Heel?

Those who pressed Congress to take responsibility for its actions in 2002 -- in other words, to either unambiguously declare war upon Iraq or unambiguously decline to do so -- were, of course, handled badly. Congress didn't declare war, roundly defeated a resolution declaring war and in fact specifically declared in its "resolution authorizing the use of force" that it wasn't declaring war by includng a "war powers reservation" clause ... but nonetheless surreptitiously handed to President Bush the power, extra-constitutional and entirely without basis in law, to do so himself.

Can the 109th Congress, which in its composition tilts even more heavily toward Bush's party than the 108th, be expected to strap on some testicles and stand up for America? Offhand, it doesn't seem likely. But it's just barely possible. The butcher's bill in Iraq adds up to about $4.6 billion, and around 60 American lives, each month. The latter statistic provides an incentive to action. The former statistic provides a means:

All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills ... -- US Constitution, Article I, Section 7

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law ... -- US Constitution, Article I, Section 8

Undoing Bush's usurpation of the congressional prerogative to declare war would be a difficult thing indeed. Having connived in that usurpation, Congress is understandably hesitant to make too much noise about it. And there are those in Congress who might even stand on principle (as odd a sight as one might ever expect to see in Washington, but I'm given to understand that it occasionally occurs) and hold that the usurped powers must remain usurped for the purpose of enabling instant reaction to military exigency, i.e. that the Constitution's strictures are outdated in that respect (which begs the question of why no amendment to the Constitution has been proposed by way of remedy, but let's not digress too much, folks).

How, then, to skin the cat?