MADELEINE BRAND, host: This is Day to Day from NPR News. I'm Madeleine Brand.</s>ALEX CHADWICK, host: I'm Alex Chadwick. We're going to check back on our lead story, the federal government bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Treasury secretary, Henry Paulson, is out today reassuring nervous investors and taxpayers. Here he is on the CBS "Early Show."  (Soundbite of TV show "The Early Show," September 8, 2008)</s>Secretary HENRY PAULSON (U.S. Department of the Treasury, George W. Bush Administration): A failure by either one of these companies would cause great havoc in the economy system. It would be a big blow to the average American, affect their budget and their ability to get a consumer loan, a car loan.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: There's still no real official estimate for what this bailout may cost, although it will surely be in the billions of dollars. Here is one set of numbers we do have.</s>ALEX CHADWICK, host: Fannie Mae's CEO - that's Daniel Mudd - could take home as much as nine million dollars in severance pay and other benefits. And Richard Syron of Freddie Mac reportedly has a contract that pays him 14 million dollars when he walks out the door.
The troubled mortgage companies' CEOs won't leave empty-handed. Fannie Mae's Daniel Mudd will likely take home $9 million, while Freddie Mac's Richard Syron may walk out the door with $13 million.