If you want to control something, get the authority to tax it. This is easy enough. What is less obvious is that you also get control of something if you force it into borrowing, if you control the borrowing. Education is an obvious example, but was it not the case that most homes 50 years ago were bought on 15 year notes held by the banks that made the loans? It was only Fannie Mae that enabled the credit expansion that pushed prices–and the size of the houses–into the stratosphere.
Keep in mind, if you think we are truly free country, that the Federal Government holds the title to roughly one third of the homes in the United States, and is currently trying to get full control of our healthcare and health insurance systems.