Chris Judd

The Senate majority leader had gathered an important group to hear us out, including Chris Dodd; Judd Gregg, the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee; and Barney Frank, who arrived late. I led off by saying the government had decided to act to save the giant insurer, and that Treasury and the Fed were cooperating. Outwardly I was calm, but I could feel the effects of sheer physical exhaustion and the accumulated pressure of the last few days. Ben followed, speaking clearly and precisely. He laid out the terms of the two-year, $85 billion bridge loan we would be making. There was an almost surreal quality to the meeting. The stunned lawmakers looked at us as if not quite believing what they were hearing. They had their share of questions but were broadly supportive. John Boehner said weБЂ™d be crazy to let AIG fail. Reid put his head in his hands at the size of the loan, while Barney Frank asked, БЂњWhere did you find $85 billion?БЂ«БЂњWe have $800 billion,БЂ«Ben replied, referring to the balance sheet of the Federal Reserve ...»