There isn't one single cause of this crisis. Everybody throughout the mortgage system got it wrong from the homeowners to the bankers to Congress (and lots more actors), save for a few whistleblowers, such as Paul Krugman on the left, and Bush, McCain, and the WSJ on the right. Gross also doesn't mention that housing was bubbling all over CRA-free, Republican-free Europe and lots of other places, too.

But that doesn't let CRA or the GSE's off the hook. Their well-intentioned influence was malign, as compassionate policies so often are. Yes, a lot more people got to live in "their own homes" than before, and that's a good thing.

But CRA amendments steadily increased pressure on banks to lend to subprime borrowers, requiring ever-riskier terms (otherwise borrowers couldn't qualify during that era of zooming prices.)

And the GSE's were heavily pressured by Congress to compete with the inebriated investment banks for market share in the same deep end of the pool. My favorite quote along these lines was Barney Frank demanding that they "roll the dice a little" on mortgage terms, against the strong advice of people like Fannie's chief risk officer who got tossed for trying to spoil the party.

The SNL skit did a pretty good job of highlighting the incredible misfeasance of "all" of us during this period. Woe is us.