Too many CEOs

Nevada GOP Rep. Dean Heller joined the chorus Monday, criticizing Chrysler Motors' decision to spend millions of dollars advertising its cars with a 60-second spot during the Super Bowl.

The move seems "extravagant," given the auto maker's acceptance of $12.5 billion in federal bailout funds, Rep. Heller said. He asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to get the company to reconsider.

Rep. Heller's instinct to perform a fiscal watchdog function is understandable. But here he only proves the warnings of those who noted that federal bailouts of such firms merely provide the surviving entities with "535 CEOs."

As though economic fascism -- leaving big corporations technically under private ownership but really under government control, on the model of Rome or Berlin in 1930 -- isn't bad enough.

Timothy Geithner -- expert on auto marketing?

Hopefully there are still some private individuals, knowledgeable about building and selling cars, running things at GM and Chrysler. They've been chosen by their respective firms' boards of directors to decide how best to market the product.

Presumably Rep. Heller does not believe the road to economic recovery includes zeroing out the advertising budget and refusing to tell consumers what Chrysler has to offer.

Let the folks running Chrysler, run Chrysler.