The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times each have featured a remarkable front-page story about former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan admitting at a congressional hearing that errors he made during his tenure probably contributed to the current financial crisis.

Even more remarkable would be to see in news stories in coming weeks and months admissions by prominent politicians, like U.S.Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and others that they too made mistakes when shielding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from increased congressional oversight in 2003 and 2005.

Greenspan's testimony created headlines such as "Greenspan concedes error on regulation" that appeared in the New York Times.

Since a number of high-ranking members of Congress could be seen as complicit in the substantial contributions of lax lending standards at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Americans should demand — but not expect — Greenspan-like confessions from House and Senate members.

If they were honest, and if a Watergate-style hearing was held, more than a few members of Congress would have to admit that they, too, made mistakes. They made mistakes when ignoring higly risky loans while advancing the laudable goal of more home ownership.

Some lawmakers appear to have erred in allowing lobbying efforts by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac cloud their judgment when it came to oversight and regulation. They erred in believing that housing prices would forever rise, and in not questioning an economy that grew largely because of the "wealth effect" caused by rapidly rising housing prices — and people using their homes' appreciation like an ATM to boost their spending.

If senators and representatives heading key financial and oversight committees were to testify honestly, they would admit that campaign contributions from Wall Street interests such as investment banks and commercial banks caused them to ease financial rules to allow banks to make bigger profits selling unregulated and exotic investment products.

The Times' story said, "Greenspan came in for one of the harshest grillings of his life, as Democratic lawmakers asked him time and time again whether he had been wrong, why he had been wrong and whether he was sorry."

Many economists agree that Greenspan does share some of the blame for keeping interest rates low, which, in turn, produced the cheap mortgages that helped fuel the housing bubble.

To get a clearer picture and the rare occurrence of a politician admitting he or she was wrong, there should be an equally aggressive grilling of at least a handful of powerful members of Congress. Since Congress controls those hearings, it appears unlikely that the true story will be revealed.

Greenspan at least admitted error.

And, it's worth remembering that in 2005, Greenspan told Congress that if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "continue to grow, continue to have the low capital that they have, continue to engage in the dynamic hedging of their portfolios, which they need to do for the interest rate aversion, they potentially create ever-growing potential systemic risk down the road."

It's time to hear from Frank, who in 2003 famously said, "These two institutions — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis."

Dodd, who topped the list of recipients of Fannie and Freddie campaign contributions at $165,400, should speak out on the influence that money might have had.

Former President Bill Clinton is on record as saying congressional Democrats share the bulk of the blame for government's role and the lack of regulation over Fannie and Freddie.

Clinton blamed Democrats for "resisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress, or by me when I was president, to put in some standards and tighten up a little on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."

No doubt real estate speculators, dishonest buyers, unethical mortgage brokers and greedy investment bankers played a major role in bringing about the financial crisis. But the federal government's role cannot be ignored.

If Greenspan is prepared to take some responsibility for the current financial crisis, then Americans should expect leading members of Congress to do the same. But it's much easier to point fingers elsewhere and spin the crisis for political purposes, especially at election time.

Greenspan's honesty is remarkable. When was the last time anyone can remember a politician admitting a mistake? It's time for some accountability from Congress.