"The federal government must implement a program to remove these illiquid assets that are weighing down our financial institutions and threatening our economy. This troubled asset relief program must be properly designed and sufficiently large to have maximum impact."

—On Sept. 19, 2008, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson calls for the creation of the $700 billion TARP bailout plan.

Two months later on Nov. 14, Paulson tells CNBC he's dropping the idea of buying illiquid assets: "It was clear that we were facing a much more severe situation than we had envisioned...." Instead, he says the best course is for the government to inject capital into banks, an option he previously rejected but Congress insisted be part of the bailout plan.

CNBC