Fannie Mae bridges the gap between toxic mortgages and toxic gases

Thanks to Freddie and Fannie, two quasi-government entities established to make housing “affordable” to all, the federal government became the largest owner of homes in America. So when the housing bubble burst a couple of years ago, the blame should’ve been Washington, D.C. instead of the lenders and bankers. But instead of reforming Freddie and Fannie, we decided to save them at taxpayers expense. And today there still isn’t any solid sign of improvement in the housing market, but the government is eager to point out how the blame falls on Wall Street.

Now there’s this gem to fill the gap between toxic mortgages and toxic gases: Fannie Mae holds a patent on a system to trade residential carbon credits with inventors including CEO Franklin Raines and others with ties to the organization as well as significant Democrat Party donors:

Besides Raines, the other “inventors” are:

* Former Fannie Vice President and Deputy General Counsel G. Scott Lesmes, who provided legal advice on Fannie Mae’s debt and equity offerings;

* Former Fannie Vice President Robert Sahadi, who now runs GreenSpace Investment Financial Services out of his 5,002-square-foot Clarksburg home;

* 2008 Barack Obama fundraiser Kenneth Berlin, an environmental law partner at Skadden Arps;

* Michelle Desiderio, director of the National Green Building Certification program, which trains “green” monitors;

* Former Cantor Fitzgerald employee Elizabeth Arner Cavey, wife of Democratic donor Brian Cavey of the Stanton Park Group, which received $200,000 last year to lobby on climate change legislation; and

* Jane Bartels, widow of former CO2e.com CEO Carlton Bartels. Three weeks before Carlton Bartels was killed in the Sept. 11 attacks, he filed for another patent on the software used in 2003 to set up the Chicago Climate Exchange.

Coincidentally, the patent was awarded the day after Democrats won control of Congress. Hmmm.

The great irony here is that Fannie Mae stands to benefit from cap and trade because of this patent, but it’s well known that cap and trade will drive up energy prices which in turn will increase housing costs — something that goes against Fannie’s charter of affordable housing.