Wait a minute - Was George Bailey a Sub-Prime Lender???

Portofilo Magazine posits an interesting question - was George Bailey of "It's A Wonderful LIfe" a sub-prime lender? Was Mr. Potter really the good guy, trying to prevent the mortgage crisis?

One example Portofilo cites makes me think maybe, just maybe, Potter knew something..

POTTER

Peter Bailey was not a businessman. That's what killed him. Oh, I don't mean any disrespect to him, God rest his soul. He was a man of high ideals, so-called, but ideals without common sense can ruin this town. (Picking up papers from table.) Now, you take this loan here to Ernie Bishop...You know, that fellow that sits around all day on his brains in his taxi. You know...I happen to know the bank turned down this loan, but he comes here and we're building him a house worth five thousand dollars. Why?

GEORGE

Well, I handled that, Mr. Potter. You have all the papers there. His salary, insurance. I can personally vouch for his character.

POTTER

(Sarcastically) A friend of yours?

GEORGE

Yes, sir.

POTTER

You see, if you shoot pool with some employee here, you can come and borrow money. What does that get us? A discontented, lazy rabble instead of a thrifty working class. And all because a few starry-eyed dreamers like Peter Bailey stir them up and fill their heads with a lot of impossible ideas. Now, I say...

O.K., so Potter wasn't right. Affordable housing helped create the middle class, and one could even argue that the G.I. Bill after WWII helped create the modern suburb.

Still, making loans to those that can't afford them is never sound policy.