Many of the banks made similar claims about not needing bailout funds or expungement of toxic balance sheet assets. One I recall, specifically, was BB&T. But the liquidity crisis was gathering huge momentum and creating a crisis of confidence that threatened the fiscal stability of the U.S. banking system and its entire economy. Remember that much of the concern over AIG was that IF it became insolvent, it would take the entire country down with it.
The U.S. government actually did something quite remarkable. It actually ACTED AND DID SOMETHING before it became too late to do so. I have a lot of respect for Bernanke and Paulson for having the guts to respond, especially after the pasting they took in the press for using taxpayer money to salvage the economy.
The part that remains highly debatable is whether Fannie, AIG and TBTF banks were saved out of some form of paternalistic or opportunistic cronyism, or whether it was a difficult and patriotic reaction to a life threatening scenario that could have left the U.S. as a Third World trainwreck with no future except as a debtor-in-possession.
JMHO.
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