Wall Street's greatest heist: the Tarp - Dean Baker

Bernanke was probably caught in the biggest fabrication [in the push for TARP] when he told congress that the commercial paper market was shutting down.

... Bernanke did not bother to inform congress and the public that he had the ability to single-handedly support the commercial paper market. He waited until the weekend after congress approved the TARP to announce that he would establish a special Fed lending facility to buy commercial paper.

In reality, the Fed almost certainly had the ability to keep the economy going by sustaining the system of payments, even if the chain of bank collapses was allowed to run its course.