I find that very hard to believe. Yes, it IS a policy of the government (and has been practically since the Revolutionary War) that private sector home ownership is encouraged. There have been plenty of quotes about that being the backbone of the economy. No argument there.

However, in all those hearings, I never once heard a bank CEO say "You made us do it". What I *have* heard was that there was so much money being made in mortgage-backed-securities (MBS) that the bankers got greedy. They wanted more and more loans being written but that everyone with *good* credit already HAD their mortgages so the only way to 'grow the business' was to loan to people who shouldn't get loans. The other major contributing factor, as I read over and over, was that there were too many people out there who thought real estate could never go down. (Idiots!)

So I ask you, sincerely, where you get the idea that the government 'held a gun' to the heads of these billionaires. I'd like to read that for myself.