PAULSON, BERNANKE DEFEND $700 BAILOUT

Nov 18, 9:37 AM EST

By JEANNINE AVERSA
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke waged a stout defense on Capitol Hill Tuesday of their management of a $700 billion financial bailout just one week after the administration abandoned the original strategy behind the rescue.
Focusing the program on infusing billions into banks - and possibly other types of companies - to pump up their capital and bolster lending to customers was deemed a faster and more effective approach to stabilizing the financial system than buying rotten assets from financial institutions, the centerpiece of the original plan, Paulson said.
Buying those toxic debts would have required a "massive commitment" of the bailout money, Paulson said in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. As economic and financial conditions quickly worsened, it became clear that the first installment of the money - $350 billion - for that purpose "simply isn't enough firepower," he said.
It is vital that the administration be nimble in assessing changing conditions and adapting the bailout strategy accordingly. "If we have learned anything throughout this year, we have learned that this financial crisis is unpredictable and difficult to counteract," Paulson said.