Here’s how you start hearings into a financial mess that you want to blame on your political opponents.  First, get a thesis statement together.  The Democrats have a two-parter this week:

a) Did the Republican’s deregulation of Wall Street lead to the massive foreclosures among poor minorities on Main Street who deserved houses but were preyed upon by evil Wall Street lenders, backed by Republicans, to accept loans with fees that caused their payments to be more than they could afford?
b) Did the failure of the Republicans to bail out Lehman Bros, because Secretary Paulson is the former CEO of their evil rival Goldman Sachs, cause the market run on Lehman, which ultimately led to the downfall of the market and the probable downfall of society, except for the rescue from Hell led by the Democrats?

Next, you need to call in all the responsible parties that can be linked to your opponents.  Call evil CEOs who are all Republican, of course, to testify.  Call liberal think tanks who “study” corporations and will point fingers toward the evil (Republican) CEOs.  Make sure they all stay on message.

Third, shut down any opposition.  Don’t allow opening statements.  Don’t allow them to go one second over time.  Don’t let people like Rep. John Mica of Florida mention Fannie or Freddie or Franklin Raines, and call him out of order if he does. 

Fourth, announce once again that the Republicans are evil and caused this whole thing.  Have a closing prayer to The Obamessiah to remind the country that he’s the only one that can save us all.

Finally, hold hearings on Fannie and Freddie after the elections but before January 20th just to remind everyone how fucked they are now that all three houses are controlled by Democrats, who we find out during the hearings were the real culprits.

Update: P.S. Don’t let the media find out that the Lehman CEO knew where his bread was buttered.