Washington Post Business Columnist Steven Pearlstein does not 'hold it all in,' as they say, regarding who he thinks is most to blame for the financial crisis.

Pearlstein cites the ineptitude of Wall Street and the nation's financial regulators. The crisis would have occurred whether Lehman Brothers was saved or not, because bad debt had overwhelmed the global financial system. A government intervention was inevitable, essential, and an act of leadership, in Pearlstein's view.

Conversely, Wall Street's top executives have shown little leadership, if any, he said. Their silence and invisibility throughout the crisis "attests to their moral and political bankruptcy," Pearlstein said, a perfect match for the financial bankruptcy they caused for investors, creditors, and customers.

Further, Pearlstein is particularly angered by Wall Street's top executives unwillingness to commit to a plan to enable borrowers to refinance mortgages into government guaranteed mortgages set at 85% of current market value of the property, and at the executives' utter lack of comment before the cameras, particularly regarding credit lines to businesses.

Political & Economic Analysis: Columnist Pearlstein clearly lays the blame for the financial crisis at the feet of Wall Street's top officials. Still, the mortgage process -- and the failure of a substantial portion of the subprime/Alt-A mortgage market -- involved many players: bank executives/lenders, mortgage brokers, appraisers, securitization specialists, ratings agencies, and borrowers.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has reached an agreement with Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (NYSE: FRE) and Federal National Mortgage Association (NYSE: FNM) in the midst of the office's year-long investigation into the mortgage industry.

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will no longer buy mortgages from lenders that use in-house appraisers. Many observers believe that the use of independent appraisers -- who don't work for a company that has the goal of making loans --would have resulted in fewer of the ebulliently optimistic appraisals that contributed to a run-up in home prices that was destined to come crashing down.

The move will force lenders like Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) to sell their appraisal operations. The New York Times reported that "As defaults and foreclosures have surged in the last year, regulators and industry analysts have raised pointed questions about the independence of appraisers. Because they rely on banks and brokers to give them additional business, appraisers often feel pressured to value a home at prices that match or exceed loan amounts."

The number of mortgage delinquencies rose to a 20-year high in Q3 as borrowers increasingly found it difficult to make payments within the 30-day grace period, the Mortgage Bankers Association announced Thursday.

The percent of home loans with payments more than 30 days late rose to seasonally-adjusted 5.59%, the MBA announced -- the highest level since 1986. The group's survey began in 1972.

Telling stat

The delinquency statistic suggests that the housing correction "is far from over," according to economist Steve Affinito.

"It's not even the beginning of the end," Affinito told BloggingStocks on Thursday. "Generally during a housing slump, what you see first is a rise in unsold homes, and then a rise in delinquencies, mostly from homeowners who did not sell or could not refinance."