Influence Alley

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., thanks Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke--while surrounded by members of the press--for "graciously" agreeing to meet with members of the committee.

Bernanke's meeting, a rare opportunity for lawmakers to hold a bipartisan off-the-record conversation with the Fed Chair, was the last of three such private sessions held throughout the day Wednesday. The earlier meetings were with Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf and Joint Committee on Taxation Chief of Staff Thomas Barthold.