Secretary Bennett, somehow, I'm not reassured...

Somebody needs to tell Ken Bennett, the newly-minted AZ Secretary of State, that being frugal with taxpayer dollars is a good thing, but that using that erstwhile frugality as an excuse to take bribes contributions from lobbyists is *not* a good thing. In fact, it the badness of that idea trumps any good that might come from the saving of the public's money.

From Mary Jo Pitzl at AZCentral.com's Political Insider (emphasis mine) -

Ken Bennett was sworn in Monday as Secretary of State in a half-hour ceremony in the old Capitol. Chief Justice Ruth McGregor did the honors, making her third trip in as many weeks to the Capitol for the swearing-in ceremony.

(Week One: Swear in new lawmakers. Week Two: Swear in Jan Brewer as governor. Week Three: Bennett. What's up for next week? Oh yeah, there's going to be a new lawmaker from District 13. See item below.)

After the ceremony, there was the reception, a nice little cookies-punch-and -ice-cream affair in the old Capitol's ice-cream parlor. The event didn't take any tax dollars, the new Secretary of State said; the money came from various lobbying groups, such as Veridus and John Mangum's shop.

To Secretary Bennett - Keep on keepin' on. Every little bit helps toward the goal of sweeping Republicans from statewide office in 2010.

Yeah, yeah - you just *knew* that I was going to work a broom reference into this post. :)