Last year, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan was able to use his alliance with the House and Senate Republicans to thwart Governor Rod Blagojevich and Senate President Emil Jones at almost every turn.

Whether it was the budget, or the governor's health-insurance expansion, or a multitude of other issues, Madigan and the Republicans were a solid team throughout the long overtime session.

This year, the Republicans have flipped on Madigan, allying with Blagojevich and Jones on the $34-billion capital-construction package, funded by expanded casino gambling and by leasing the Illinois Lottery to a private company.

There are several important things to keep in mind when discussing the governor's proposed budget cuts. The governor threatened to slash $1.5 billion out of the state budget unless the House comes back to Springfield and passes some revenue-generating bills and the capital-construction budget, all of which were approved by the Senate in May and blocked by House Speaker Michael Madigan.

The reasons why House Speaker Michael Madigan's campaign staff produced a memo for candidates about how best to call for the impeachment of Governor Rod Blagojevich are pretty sound. The execution, however, left something to be desired.

A bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives in April aims to help the millions of Americans who struggle to understand tax forms and other correspondence from the federal government.