Yahoo! Finance reports The New York Times says in a poll conducted in conjunction with CBS News that nine out of ten Americans still think of home ownership as an important part of the American Dream.  As for improving the housing market, 45 percent say the government should be doing more, while 16 percent say it should be doing less.  Very few people wanted the mortgage interest deduction (MID) ended, and 53 percent approved of direct governmental assistance in helping those with distressed mortgages.  As for the cause of the current housing crisis, 42 percent blame lenders, 29 percent blame regulators.  When this question was posed in early 2008, 40 percent blamed regulators and 29 percent blamed lenders.  Very few at either poll blamed borrowers for buying homes they could not afford.  The telephone poll was conducted with 979 adults June 24-28.