Summers On Falling Sleeping: It Was My American Dream

Caught sleeping at a meeting with credit card industry executives last week, Larry Summers defended his White House nap on Sunday, saying that, with a topic "boring enough to put you to sleep," he was just trying to achieve his own American Dream.

From the closing moments of the chief Obama economic adviser's interview on Fox News Sunday:

WALLACE: We have less than a minute left and I do want to ask you one more question and I suspect you figured this one was coming. You were spotted at that meeting with credit card executives, it sure looked like you were falling asleep. Question: Do you find President Obama's speeches less than compelling, sir?

SUMMERS: Chris, you know, it's kind of like I was thinking about the fine print on some of those credit card disclosures which is written boring enough to put you to sleep. And President Obama wants us all to fulfill our American dreams. And I guess I was starting that day.

WALLACE: You've been a serial dozer because you were spotted at an earlier meeting. are you not getting enough sleep, sir?

SUMMERS: We're all working very hard in this administration, Chris, because we think that we want to support the president in what is a tremendous responsibility that he has to get this economy growing again and to again establish a period when family incomes are rising.

WALLACE: Did the president rib you?

SUMMERS: Oh, we've all joked about American dreams in various ways.

On a more serious and pertinent note, Summers cheered legislation that would provide "relief" and protection to credit card users, though he didn't directly say whether the White House would support an immediate freeze on retroactive interest rates.

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