The government sets the lending standards and the banking regulations.
They deliberately loosened these standards and regulations in the second Clinton administration in order to increase the numbers of poor & minority people in their own homes. There was pressure on Fannie/Freddie to lower their portfolio standards. In fact, the Democrats’ obsession with “making housing affordable” led to the creation of Fannie/Freddie and the use of these two GSE’s as plum political appointments for their connected people in the banking system.
Yes, the government has a portion of the blame in this, as do the banks, the borrowers and the mortgage brokers.
Brilliant strategy and timing to insure an economic meltdown and landslide for Clinton II.