"What Does Fannie Want with Cap and Trade?"

[WhiskeyGirl]

In what's easily the strangest news item of the week, Reps. Chaffetz (R-UT) and Issa (R-CA) are demanding answers about a patent issued to Fannie Mae for a cap and trade style residential emissions trading system. What does a purchaser and guarantor of mortgages want with carbon emissions? That's what they're trying to find out.

Their press release says:

    On June 7, 2005, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued Patent No. 6,904,336 for a "System and Method for Residential Emissions Trading." The patent was assigned to the Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae") and CO2e.com, LLC of New York. The patent lists former Fannie Mae Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Franklin D. Raines as the primary inventor. Former Fannie Mae executives Scott Lesmes and Robert Sahadi are also listed as inventors.

Well at least now we know Fannie was doing instead of making sure its mortgage portfolio could withstand a housing downturn: it was trying to find a way to capitalize off the future of environmental regulation. Was it trying to devise some scheme to create a market to sell carbon emissions credits of the homes it guaranteed? That's certainly how it appears.

Of course, this has nothing to do with its housing market mission, so perhaps Fannie was just trying to diversify its business. Since it still owns the patent, expect to see it lobbying for cap and trade legislation that could allow a new market to thrive. With Congress refusing to draw any new regulatory guidelines for the firm's activities, anything could happen.

more here - http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/05/what-does-fannie-want-with-cap-and-trade/56757/

[WhiskeyGirl]

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) — Radio and TV personality Glenn Beck claims that Fannie Mae is the “slush fund” behind a public money laundering scheme that Beck calls “Crime Inc.” Fannie Mae is a government-sponsored enterprise charted by the U.S. Congress to provide stability and affordability to the housing and mortgage markets.

“Fannie Mae is the perfect place [for progressives] to stash money and hide all the secrets.” Beck said. “Why? Because you can’t subpoena Fannie unless the chair of a congressional committee signs off on it. And right now the Democrats are never going to sign off on that.”

According to Beck, “Crime Inc.” is a group of progressive think-tanks who are working feverishly to enact Cap and Trade legislation that would significantly benefit Fannie Mae because they hold the patent to an vital piece of the Cap and Trade system.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) both issued a letter to David Kappos, the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as well as Michael Williams, President and CEO of Fannie Mae. The letter seeks information regarding the patent issued to Fannie Mae regarding a residential Cap and Trade system.

“I have serious questions about why Fannie Mae, back in 2005, was working on a Cap and Trade scheme,” Rep. Chaffetz wrote. “Why would they be spending their resources on something that is well outside of the scope of Fannie Mae’s charter? We want to see all the information relating to the patents issued to these ‘inventive’ former Fannie Mae executives.”

more here - http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world/fox-news-host-glenn-beck-claims-fannie-mea-is-a-slush-fund_100363994.html