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We have been had. Politicians in Washington are leading us around by the nose. Worse, we are letting them get away with it.

The congressional super committee's inability to cut $1.2 trillion from the federal deficit is being sold as a failure. However, the real failure occurred when the joint members of Congress abdicated their constitutional responsibility.

What would our Founders say if they could see what has become of their bequest? After the Constitutional Convention, a woman asked Benjamin Franklin what form of government he and his cohort had conceived. He answered, “A republic, madam, if you can keep it.”

Consolidating the power of 535 duly elected representatives into the hands of a 12 member “super-committee” compromises the integrity of that republic. Political analyst John Fund calls the scheme a “committee dictatorship.”

Indeed, the voice of the American people has been muffled by this process. A CNN/ORC International Poll released Monday indicates that 60% of Americans “back major cuts in spending in domestic government programs.”

The automatic cuts triggered by the super-committee's inaction will not fulfill that mandate. Those cuts will not take affect until 2013, and do not bind future Congresses.

The American people deserve forthright statesmanship, honest cuts which take affect now, not after the next election. Senator Klobuchar was among those who abdicated her responsibility. Minnesotans elected her, not a super-committee. If she is so eager to avoid representing her constituents, perhaps we should consider relieving her of the responsibility.