Wallison's claim that Fannie and Freddie caused the financial crisis

Mike Konczal http://rortybomb.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/peter-wallison-discusses-fannie-and-freddie-for-the-american-spectator-or-where-are-the-fact-checkers/#comment-15969 : "The conservative talking point: half of all subprime and other high-risk mortgages were held by the GSEs!... This zombie argument finally got fully dismembered by Center for American Progress&rsquo; David Min in his recent report taking apart Wallison.... Wallison and Pinto claim that the GSEs were responsible for half of all subprime and subprime-like mortgages. They do this by making up a confusing definition of &ldquo;subprime-like."... The fun part of making up your own definition is that it can be whatever you want it to be.... The three-card monte trick is pretty straightforward once you know where to watch. There&rsquo;s a lot of statements that go: &ldquo;Fannie and Freddie made a lot of subprime loans and other high-risk mortgages. And subprime loans had a 25% default rate!&rdquo; And you naturally assume that the other high-risk loans must also have a gigantic default rate compared to regular mortgages. Except they don&rsquo;t..."