While the government four years ago bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the tune of $188 billion, a settlement reached last Friday between Uncle Sam and J.P. Morgan Chase required the latter to pay $5.1 billion to the government for “duping” the federal government into purchasing mortgage-backed securities that eventually piled upon each other and brought down both the housing market and the economy at large. Instead of taking their share of the blame, Fannie and Freddie tried to shift it to Chase, which was a key player but not the only one taking advantage of an overheated market.

Yet when you own or guarantee over $5 trillion in mortgage assets as Fannie and Freddie did, one would think there were people minding the store. On the contrary, a former Fannie Mae risk officer wrote in an email that the company “was not even close to having proper controls processes for credit, market, and operational risk.” Evidently, they figured the market would forever appreciate, because so-called NINA (No Income No Asset) loans at Freddie didn’t even require verification of borrower income or assets.

In the end, it’s the federal government exacting another toll from a business that only followed the lead of what those inside the Beltway were mandating or doing. Partisans continue arguing over just who’s to blame, in the process negating any effort to assist the millions who lost their homes and livelihoods after the housing bubble burst.