To most people, last week's crushing defeat of Gov. Bob Riley's tax and accountability plan sent a loud and clear message: Taxpayers want state government to be more efficient before it gets more money. Taxpayers want all government waste cut from the budgets. They want to know their government is spending wisely.

The majority of lawmakers got the message, but it should come as no surprise that the Legislature's pork king, state Sen. Roger Bedford, missed the point entirely.


Believe it or not, Bedford, a Democrat from Russellville who has become the poster boy for bad state government, claims last week's vote shows - now get this - that citizens support the pass-through pork for which Bedford is infamous. It's yet another in a long list of what should be known as "Bedford moments."

Bedford, awaiting trial on charges of extortion and attempted extortion (also involving pork money), said one reason people voted against Riley's plan was because it banned pass-through pork, a practice perfected by Bedford in which lawmakers put money in a state agency's bank account and direct the agency's director on how to spend it. Over just a one-year period, Bedford sent $6.5 million to his district like that. [...]