Pelosi: Dems will continue to blame Bush

WASHINGTON, June 11 (UPI) -- U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Friday Democrats will continue to blame the Bush administration for "inherited" problems until they "go away."

In an interview with MSNBC, Pelosi was asked if she thought the public might expect Democrats to stop blaming former President George W. Bush.

"Well, it burns out when the problems go away," she said.

Pelosi said the economy was in good shape when Bush took over in2001 but was in financial when Obama was elected in 2008.

"(Obama) inherited -- a deficit, when (Bush) inherited from the Clinton administration four budgets that were either in surplus or in balance. And he turned it into a massive deficit," Pelosi said.

Asked if she thought that was relevant, Pelosi said, "Absolutely … this is how we got here."

The speaker accused Republicans of rejecting Democratic efforts to "reign in" the oil companies, the health insurance industry and Wall Street.

She was also harshly critical of BP, saying the company "is more interested in spending money on advertising and public relations and paying dividends before they meet the claims of the small business."