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Washington 鈥� Wow. Calling him 鈥淜ing Henry鈥� may be a little much, but Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson would still gain unprecedented powers under the financial rescue legislation the Senate passed Oct. 1.

This bill is different from the one rejected by the House on Sept. 29. Congressional leaders have added tax breaks and an increase in deposit insurance in an effort to make it more palatable to nervous lawmakers.

But at heart the authority it would invest in the Treasury chief is little changed.

鈥淗e鈥檚 still getting a blank check,鈥� said Thomas Mann, Brookings Institution senior fellow in governance studies, at an Oct. 1 seminar. 鈥淛ust with some whistles and bells on it."

To see what this means, look at the language in the bill. It鈥檚 apparent from the start. Here鈥檚 a good excerpt from page 6:

鈥淭he Secretary is authorized to establish the Troubled Asset Relief Program (or 鈥楾ARP鈥�) to purchase, and to make and fund commitments to purchase, troubled assets from any financial institution, on such terms and conditions as are determined by the Secretary, and in accordance with this Act and the policies and procedures developed and published by the Secretary.鈥�

So ... in other words, Mr. Paulson (and his successor) gets to buy stuff pretty much any way he wants. Reverse auction, forward auction, Statue-of-Liberty auction, church raffle 鈥� Lehman Brothers, come on down!

But it has got to be from financial institutions, right? There鈥檚 that restriction.

Except, here鈥檚 the definition of 鈥渇inancial institution.鈥� It鈥檚 on page 4.

鈥淭he term 鈥榝inancial institution鈥� means any institution, including, but not limited to, any bank, savings association, credit union, security broker or dealer, or insurance company, established and regulated under the laws of the United States...."

See? That one can sneak by you. The important part is 鈥渁ny institution, including, but not limited to." So, the Treasury secretary can buy troubled assets from anything! True, the end of that sentence, which is very long, excludes things owned by foreign governments, or their central banks. And the institution in question has to at least have operations in the US.

But if Taco Bell has any bad assets it wants to unload, it looks to me as if it qualifies.

The bill goes on to say that the Treasury secretary has to make purchases at the 鈥渓owest price that the Secretary determines to be consistent with the purposes of this Act...." He or she is also supposed to 鈥渕aximize the efficiency of the use of taxpayer resources by using market mechanisms ... where appropriate.鈥�

Again, who is making the decisions there? You guessed it. That鈥檚 not what you鈥檇 call binding legislative language.

At least we all know what the the Treasury will be buying. It will be those much-discussed toxic assets 鈥� mortgage-based securities that have gone bad because real estate prices have fallen.

Except when they aren鈥檛. Here鈥檚 the bill鈥檚 secondary definition of troubled assets: 鈥淎ny other financial instrument that the Secretary ... determines the purchase of which is necessary to promote financial market stability.鈥�

To be fair, the depth of the credit crisis and the need for quick action may call for a rescue program that allows its overseer maximum flexibility. And the Senate-passed bill keeps tighter control over the nation鈥檚 purse strings. It only allots the Treasury a first tranche of $250 billion for the program, toward a cap of $700 billion.

And there will be a number of oversight boards to check Treasury鈥檚 actions, including a congressional panel of five lawmakers.

Still, to call the whole thing a 鈥減lan鈥� is something of a misnomer, according to the panel at Brookings鈥� Oct. 1 event.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important to understand there鈥檚 no plan. What the legislation would do, would say to Paulson, you deal with this, we don鈥檛 know how you鈥檙e going to do it, but we鈥檙e giving you some money to deal with it,鈥� said William Gale, Brookings director of economic studies.