While Members of Congress take their annual August recess, they are not alone. It's a time for taxpayers to breathe a little easier as well, because August is at least one month when they know new taxes and burdensome regulations won't be rammed through the legislative process.

In what has to be the most blatantly political budgetary veto in Illinois history, Governor Rod Blagojevich last week ham-handedly attempted to punish his enemies, reward his friends, and entice some members he will need on crucial votes.

First, full disclosure: In my youth, I engaged in some serious substance abuse. Today I am a teetotaler, but I do not object to other people consuming alcohol. I hate smoke, but I defend the right of others to smoke. I disdain illegal drugs, but I don't feel that I have the right to impose that judgment on others. Also, while I am a free-market economist and believe that government has gotten way too big, I am not (for a variety of reasons) a card-carrying Libertarian. That having been said, I find much of the libertarian argument in favor of legalizing recreational drugs to be persuasive, although I strongly dissent from one of the major implications of the libertarian position.

In state legislative politics, your word is supposed to be your bond, but that doesn't always happen. Illinois legislators will often tell one person one thing and tell another something completely different. Rank-and-file legislators aren't completely trustworthy.

Legislative leaders, on the other hand, are supposed to be different, particularly when it comes to promises they make to each other. The Senate president, House speaker, and the two minority leaders share a historic bond that is never breached.