A recent statewide poll showed Governor Rod Blagojevich's job approval rating was lower than President George W. Bush's.

As if that isn't astounding in and of itself - that a Democratic governor in a Democratic state would be polling worse than a wildly unpopular lame-duck Republican president - there was even more bad news for the governor when you looked closer.

Blagojevich's political base appears to be deserting him.

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.