Academic

Well, a couple of magazine articles about it, anyway.  It is here.  The key claim:  2008 is only sort of unprecedented.

it?s not the first time that Federal Reserve banks have made loans to businesses?all types of businesses, not just those related to the financial services industry. It won?t surprise you to learn that these loans began during the Great Depression, but they also continued for nearly 20 years.

Maybe, but when you have to go back to the Great Depression to find examples of the Fed bailing out nonbanks - and then, the nonbanks were attached to banks - well.....  Hat Tip: the WSJ econ blog.  We've got some nice comments on the Fed's statutory authority here.