There is no doubt the banking industry attempted to make as much money in the sub-prime mortgage market. Except for a few conservative commentators, no one is asking a few relevant questions. For example, what part did the federal government play in the problem? The answer there is quite telling.

More than a decade ago, the Clinton Administration forced banks (through the licensing process) to end red lining and give mortgages to people who could least afford them. The federal government endorsed the sub-prime mortgage idea in the belief that home ownership was a good way to get poor people upwardly mobile. Things such as welfare payments, second jobs and even unemployment insurance payments were now counted as income – all with Uncle Sam’s blessing and authority.

Enter Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Leaders of these organizations bought bad loans from the banks and cooked their own books in ways similar to Enron to show the agencies were turning a profit. Good sales meant good bonuses for top executives. The head of Fannie Mae turned over more than $90 million in bonuses for hitting sales marks on top of his salary. The same is true for other top execs in both agencies.

Was Washington keeping an eye on this? No. Attempts were made in 2004 to rein in the agencies, but Democrats in both houses, including our own Sen. Dodd, blocked those attempts. Indeed, the Bush administration and Sen. John McCain warned of dire strains on the economy should the two agencies default. We are living with those predictions now. This leads to our second question.

When are Dodd and his banking comrade in the House of Representatives Barney Frank going to be asked about their own malfeasance? They were told of the problems and rejected them out of hand. In the years since the Congress was taken over by the Democrats little was done to oversee the agencies – until now.

The economic downturn was caused as much by government interference of an industry as it was the industry trying to make a profit out of a bad situation. It took more than a decade for the house of cards the Democrats constructed to come down, but come down it did.

Dodd and Frank should be frog marched out of Capitol Hill and put in orange jump suits, but that won’t happen. The leaders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be frog marched out of their offices, but that won’t happen. Instead, the press will put the blame totally on free enterprise (or in this case not-so-free enterprise).

The government is seen as the savior when it was the perpetrator. And the American Taxpayer is told that all will be well as long as the Congress is in charge. Oh, brother!