Next time the government tells you it needs a tax increase, think of the $150,000 now being spent on TV ads telling you how to live your life.

More on that in a moment on the Face The State Radio Minute.

RitterState of Colo.

God bless him, Governor Bill Ritter really cares about you. So much so, he’s spending $150,000 of your tax money to share the same advice your mother always gave – “turn the darn lights out!”

Ritter is sharing his enviro-conscious message in a series of TV and radio ads running state-wide all this year. There’s something about that amount - $150,000 – that he really must like. It’s the same as the hunk of cash he earmarked in this year’s budget to defend an unconstitutional, forever property tax increase. At least it makes the accounting easy.

But I digress. The TV version of the ads show the Governor and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper hopping on their cruiser bikes, then high-fiving their mutual environmental piety. No word on how often the Governor actually bikes or walks the eight blocks to work.

For FaceTheState.com, I’m Brad Jones.