Jan Brewer Sorry She Pawned Off Arizona State Capitol, Wants It Back

One of the dimmer stars in the galaxy of indignities that Arizona's teabagger governor loon Jan Brewer has wrought upon her dominion is the fact that she sold off the state's capitol to a bunch of private investors in 2010 to raise some quick cash and is currently only leasing the government's office space, which looks a little embarrassing as Arizona is now looking forward to celebrating its centennial next month in a rental shack. OOPS. She's really sorry about this, though, so she wants the state legislature to buy it back for her with some of the money it's been saving from cutting education and health care (and then passing a half-billion dollar corporate tax cut). This will heal the pain, surely!

From the  Yuma Sun:   

Citing the state's upcoming 100th birthday, Gov. Jan Brewer on Monday asked lawmakers to buy back three buildings at the Capitol that were mortgaged off two years ago to balance the budget.

The move will cost the state $105 million out of its current budget surplus. Brewer press aide Matthew Benson said the state has the cash.

Benson acknowledged the state actually got only $81 million for the state House, the Senate and the nine-story executive tower that includes Brewer's office when it negotiated a “sale-leaseback'' arrangement in 2010.

But he said that $24 million difference should not be seen as an exorbitant interest rate for just two years of borrowing. Instead, Benson said, it actually is a savings: If the state had taken the full 20 years to pay off the debt, the cost would be far more.

Brewer, however, said she sees this as more than an issue of dollars and cents. She called it a matter of pride as the state recovers economically.

Yep, that'll save Arizona's pride! [Yuma Sun via Mother Jones]