The state wants to use stimulus money to - get this - lobby itself. Now that's economic development for you.

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

If you didn't have reason to doubt the government's handling of the so-called stimulus money flowing out of Washington, try this one on for size. The Denver Post reports the Governor's office would like to hire a lobbyist to pressure the Public Utilities Commission to raise rates. You know, because we don't pay enough for energy as it is.

The obvious issue of government retaining lobbyists aside, how does this new federally-funded position help drive the economy? Isn't that what the, ah, stimulus package was intended to do?

If the state insists on burning taxpayer money out of Washington, at least we can find a better project. Not only do we pay for the new position in taxes, we'll pay higher energy prices, too.

For FaceTheState.com, I'm Brad Jones.