I, like many in the media, spent the morning watching Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chair Ben Bernanke testify before the Senate Banking Committee about the turmoil in the credit markets. Much of the testimony focused on Paulson's plan to bailout the financial markets. I'm preparing my in-depth analysis of the hearing right now. The report will air in tonight's broadcast. In the meantime, I thought I'd share with you some of the most compelling quotes I heard during the testimony.

Senator Chris Dodd (D - Connecticut)

"There is no second act to this. There is no alternative idea out there with resources available if this does not work"

Senator Richard Shelby (R - Alabama)

"Rather than establishing a comprehensive, workable plan for resolving this crisis, I believe this legislation merely codifies Treasury's ad hoc approach."

Senator Jim Bunning (R - Kentucky)

"We cannot make bad mortgages go away. We cannot make the losses that our financial institutions are facing go away. Someone must take those losses. We can either let the people who made the bad decisions bear the consequences of their actions, or we can spread that pain to others."

Senator Robert Menendez (D - New Jersey)

"Questions range from are you intending to buy these bad loans at a significant discount, or will we be overpaying? If they are at a deep discount, how does that create the much-needed capital for their cash future and, therefore, solve the problem? If Treasury is overpaying and working to create capital for the institutions, why aren't we getting any?"

Senator Elizabeth Dole (R - North Carolina)

"So much of what is happening with regard to the credit crisis, the housing slump, the bankruptcy and dissolving of major financial institutions can be linked to the mismanagement of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which was made possible by weak oversight and little accountability."

Senator Evan Bayh (D - Indiana)

"There is a sense of outrage of the part of ordinary taxpayers. I hear from my citizens all the time, people who behave prudently, who did not take inordinate risks, who saved their money, who did not get in over their heads, who did not participate in highly leveraged instruments that have now come back to haunt them. What about them? Who speaks for them?"

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson

"I've heard your comments on executive compensation. I share your frustrations. I feel those frustrations. Practices throughout America also upset me. Let me just say, with regard to Freddie and Fannie and AIG, in case you or your constituents don't know... In those cases, CEO's were replaced. The government got warrants for 79.9 percent of the equity. Golden parachutes were eliminated. Strong action was taken. I also say to the comments made about Freddie and Fannie and the bazooka...You all can be darn glad they gave us the bazooka. Because we needed it."

"If any of you felt that I didn't believe that we needed oversight, I believe we need oversight. We need oversight. We need protection. We need transparency. I want it. We all want it."

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke

"...understanding the concerns and the worries of the committee, we cannot impose punitive measures on the institutions that choose to sell assets. That would eliminate or strongly reduce participation, and cause the program to fail. Remember, the beneficiaries of this program are not just those who sell the asset, but all market participants in the economy as a whole."

SEC Chairman Chris Cox

"We recently issued new rules that more strictly enforce the ban on abusive naked short-selling. Beyond these immediate steps, the SEC is vigorously investigating how illegal activities may have contributed to the subprime crisis and the recent instability in our markets. First and foremost, the SEC is a law enforcement agency. And we already have over 50 ongoing investigations in the subprime area alone. The division of enforcement has undertaken a sweeping investigation into market manipulation of financial institutions, including through the use of credit default swaps -- a multi-trillion dollar market which is completely lacking in transparency, and is completely unregulated."