Nancy Pelosi: Let's not forget, Mr. President, that it was the Democrats who first sounded the alarm about the risky mortgage loans that Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac were encouraging. And that your party resisted all our efforts to rein them in.I was surprised that SNL portrayed Democratic mendacity so clearly and directly.
Pres. Bush: Wait wait wait. Wasn't it my administration that warned about the problem six years ago? And it was the Democrats who refused to listen?
Pelosi: What? No, who told you that? That's crazy. It's completely the other way around.
Bush: Okay.
Barney Frank: Actually, this time, he's sort of right.
Pelosi: Sssh. Don't say anything. He doesn't know.
Here's some real-life video that confirms what the skit was talking about. It juxtaposes Pelosi's recent statements with bits from congressional hearings in 2004. The clips of Maxine Waters ("we do not have a crisis"), Gregory Weeks ("I'm just pissed off at [criticism of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac]" ), Lacy Clay ("political lynching of Franklin Raines") and Barney Frank ("safety and soundness ... shibboleth") are particularly egregious.
The real-life video also shows various Republican congressmen sounding the alarm in 2004 and calling for more regulation. Including: Richard Baker (R-LA), Don Manzullo (R-IL), Ed Royce. (R-CA), and Christopher Shays (R-CT).
If there is comparable video that makes Democrats look good on the mortgage mess, I haven't seen it.
UPDATE: Some related links:
WSJ "What They Said About Fan and Fred"
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA): I do think I do not want the same kind of focus on safety and soundness that we have in OCC and OTS. I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation towards subsidized housing.Recollections of Paul Gigot.
ANOTHER UPDATE: NBC seems to have taken the bailout skit off its website.
UPDATE: The skit is back up on NBC (with later parts about the Sandlers cut out).
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