We've all heard this one before. President Barack Obama likening the economy when he took office to a car in a ditch, that the Democrats had to push out.

The story has grown and changed over time but it is the same tale, again and again and again.

Well, U.S. Sen. Al Franken has heard the tale enough. And Franken, a former Saturday Night Live writer, decided to make some improvements to the story.

Here's the yarn Franken told Saturday to the crowd gathered at the University of Minnesota to see Obama:

"I think the analogy that the economy was a car in a ditch when he took office that he uses is just a little too static. Here's my analogy, which in my opinion is both more kinetic and, frankly, far more accurate.

When the president took office not only had the car gone into a ditch but the car had flipped over and was rolling down a steep embankment. We, the American people, were in the back seat and the Bush administration had removed all the seat belts. So we were all flying around the interior of this car, as it was rolling and flipping and careening down this steep embankment heading to ...a 2,000-foot cliff. And at the bottom of that cliff were jagged rocks and alligators.

An actual car, in an actual ditch. No alligators. No Slurpees.

Now at noon on January 20th, 2009 as the car was careening toward the cliff, George W. Bush jumped out of the car. President Bush jumped out of the car and President Obama somehow managed to dive in through the window, take the wheel, get control of the vehicle, just inches before it went over the precipice. And he and Congress starting inching this wrecked (car) back up the embankment.

Now, you can't push a car up an embankment as fast as it careens down an embankment. But we got it going in the right direction and slowly we've gotten ourselves up that embankment, passed the ditch, up on the shoulder of the road. That is what happened. That's where we are today. "

Shortly thereafter, Obama arrived to spin his own car-in-a-ditch story. Here's what he said:

"I know that Al Franken talked to you a little bit about the analogy of a car being driven into a ditch. Although I guess Al kind of embellished it a little bit. He said there were alligators down there. Well, I didn't see the alligators but it is true that the car went into the ditch. And it is true that me and Al and Amy and Mark and others, we had to climb down into the ditch and it is hot down there and dirty and we've been pushing that car, pushing it, pushing it, pushing it.

And all the time the Republicans have been standing on the sidelines. They've been looking down, fanning themselves, sipping on a Slurpee, kicking dirt down into the ditch, kicking dirt in our faces. But we kept pushing.

Finally we got this car up on level ground and yes, it's a little beat up. It needs to go to the body shop. It's got some dents. It needs a tune up but it's pointing in the right direction. And now we get the Republicans tapping us on the shoulder, saying 'We want the keys back.'

You can't have the keys back -- you don't know how to drive. You can ride with us if you want but you've got to sit in the back seat. We're going to put middle class America in the front seat."