"This is an urgent matter, and we need to move very quickly... we're talking about hundreds of billions of dollars... we can't determine what the cost is today...  But I can assure you the cost won't be anything like what is put out to buy these investments and these assets. And when the assets are sold, the money will come back into the treasury."  Henry Paulson, Treasury Secretary at the time, on Meet the Press, Sept. 21, 2008.