Some fiddle while Rome burns, Larry Summers snores while Washington prints. (Prints money, that is.) And now, he’s asked to fire up the presses again:

Larry Summers, the senior economic adviser to President Obama, reportedly asked Congress yesterday to begin drafting plans for a second stimulus package to prevent the economy from suffering a double dip recession. Summers suggested additional loans for small businesses, an extension of unemployment insurance, and financial aid to states to avoid further layoffs in the public education sector.
In recent months, Summers – who has a bit of a reputation for falling asleep at economic policy meetings – has made numerous public statements highlighting the strength of the economic recovery. Accordingly, it comes as somewhat of a surprise that these measures would be needed if the recovery were in fact so strong. Summers is likely talking up the economy in order to instill confidence in American consumers, while simultaneously proposing measures that keep the stimulus-driven recovery from faltering.

Loans for small business, solvency for the unemployed and education are good causes, one and all, but it illustrates how heavily dependent this ‘recovery’ still is on government largesse. Add in the massive number of home loans being backstopped by FHA and you wonder how (or if) anything gets done these days without Uncle Sam paying for it somehow. Scary stuff to think about between naps.