Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson may not have gotten everything he wanted from legislation putting a huge bailout into place, but it’s likely he got far more than he could’ve expected when the plan looked destined to be a casualty of partisan warfare.

Put aside the details for a moment and focus on the bailout’s core logistical problem. It’s safe bet to say nobody in Congress understands the financial markets. It’s an equally safe bet to say that Paulson, in his Master of the Universe heart, doesn’t truly understand Congress.

Traditionally, that’s not exactly the recipe for a productive weekend on Capitol Hill, especially when election-year wrangling and partisan bluster is factored in.

Yet in the plan, as it stood "frozen" Sunday night by Congressional leaders with specific guidelines to be filled in by Treasury, crafts a rescue that will let the federal government acquire toxic assets--mortgages and other loans--from troubled financial institutions ranging from banks to credit unions to pension funds.

Along the way to approving the plan, Capitol Hill leaders managed to win key points that limit executive compensation and can claws back bonuses paid based on promised gains that later turn out to be false or inaccurate. Congress also gets oversight into how the money is spent and a promise that taxpayers will get stakes in the companies rescued so some reimbursement could be possible.

Those provisions satisfy Congress’ broader goal: making itself look tough and Wall Street look bad.

Congress will begin voting on the plan Monday.

For Paulson, well, welcome to Washington—where everything important must be left to early-morning brinksmanship and finger-pointing, even as some large banks remain shaky and global worries intensify.

He may be the highest-ranking government official to understand what’s going on in the markets and the level on danger facing the U.S. and global economies. Keep in mind, Congress was apparently consulting with Warren Buffett by phone in the final stages of the negotiations Saturday night. The one investment Buffett has chosen to make amidst all this chaos is in Goldman Sachs, a firm very much built in the image of its former chief, Paulson.

Paulson got his bailout. But he’ll only get half the $700 billion he was asking for upfront, with the last $100 billion of that subject to review. The other $350 billion will be available unless Congress moves directly to stop it. Paulson also doesn’t get the unfettered power to use the loot as he sees fit.

According to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s draft/victory lap memo outlining the deal, the Bush-Paulson bailout plan will be subject to a strong oversight board appointed by Congress; a GAO presence at Treasury to oversee the program and conduct audits to ensure strong internal controls; an independent Inspector General to monitor the Treasury Secretary's decisions; transparency -- requiring posting of transactions online -- to help jumpstart private sector demand; and meaningful judicial review of the Treasury Secretary's actions.

All this may become too much for Paulson to stomach (he’s the last person in Federal government who needs a monitor to make sure his internal controls are strong) and it may hang up some deals that need to be done quickly.

The bottom line: Congress has formalized a plan that underpins a shaky financial sector and doesn’t smell like a rip-off to taxpayers. The goal was to provide the idea--in a crucial election year and to our creditors overseas--that this is the last financial breakdown America will see for a long time.

That, of course, is not true. For now, though, it’ll have to be enough.