NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - After President Bush spoke this week about cracking down on corporate evildoers, Wall Street reacted with skepticism, hinting it sought action rather than words. In fact, it's already getting action from Congress this week, as the desire to restore investor confidence apparently has outweighed the urge for political bickering.

Bush, speaking at a Wall Street gathering of business leaders Tuesday, called for higher ethical standards in Corporate America and tougher penalties for executives and companies that break the rules.

But Bush didn't mention that the Senate is debating this week a bill sponsored by Sen. Paul Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat, that prescribes a very long laundry list of remedies, including the establishment of a powerful independent board to oversee accounting.

Instead, he referred to a bill, sponsored by Rep. Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, that was approved by the House in April, saying it was "needed legislation to encourage transparency and accountability in American businesses," and he asked the Senate to act quickly so he could "sign a good bill into law."

Democrats have touted the Sarbanes bill as having more detail and more "teeth," giving the independent accounting board more authority and establishing specific rules about more subjects, including Wall Street analysts' conflicts of interest and non-auditing activities by accounting firms.

"The House bill basically punted most responsibilities to the Securities and Exchange Commission," said Tyson Slocum, research director at Public Citizen, Ralph Nader's watchdog group. "The Senate bill takes a more aggressive stance in protecting investors, in our opinion."

Meanwhile, Bush and other Republicans have criticized the Sarbanes bill as giving the independent board so much authority that it comes into conflict with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"We support the intentions of the Senate bill, but we have reservations as well," Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Wednesday.

Still, most political analysts believe the Sarbanes bill, being debated in the Senate this week, will be passed by a fairly wide margin, probably some time next week. Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., has said he thinks the bill could be passed 80-20.

The bill's chances improved greatly with the revelation in June that WorldCom Group would have to restate its results through 2001, adding nearly $4 billion in expenses it had improperly booked. The news sank stock prices and stoked outrage among investors.

"This is going to steamroll," said Leslie Alperstein, political analyst with Washington Analysis.

The bill will be so popular, in fact, that it already has seen a host of amendments as lawmakers rush to attach their names to it. On Wednesday, the Senate passed amendments protecting corporate whistle-blowers, creating new criminal penalties for corporate fraud and document shredding, increasing penalties for wire and mail fraud and allowing the SEC to bar rule-breaking executives from serving as officers again. And there are several more in the pipeline.

The bill will be further altered after it's approved by the Senate. It then will go to a private conference that will try to reconcile the differences between it and the Oxley bill before it's sent to the President for his signature.

Though the bill could get watered down in this process -- which could include consultation with SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt, who has been criticized by Democrats as being too cozy with the accounting profession -- it seems doubtful that many people will stand in the way of the legislation.

O'Neill's criticism of it Wednesday was relatively tepid, saying, for example, that he would have preferred it give the SEC the power to bar executives who break the rules from serving as corporate officers again -- the Sarbanes bill only strengthens the ability of federal courts to do that.

"I think there's a limit to how far the Bush administration will fight on any of these topics," Charles Gabriel, political analyst with Prudential Securities, told CNNfn's Street Sweep program. "Karl Rove, the President's political advisor, is a realist."

In the end, comparing the proposals of Bush, Sarbanes, Oxley and others, it seems highly likely that, at the very least:

• There will be stronger criminal penalties for corporate fraud;
• Some kind of accounting review board will be created;
• Rule-breaking executives will be barred from future officer positions;
• Auditors will be prevented from performing some non-auditing work;
• Corporate audit committees will be required to have some level of independence;
• CEOs will be required to certify financial statements;
• The SEC will get the authority to freeze profits gained from misconduct;
• The SEC will get more money;
• Executives will be prevented from stock trades during pension-fund "blackout" periods; and
• Companies will have to be more forthcoming about insider trades, off-balance-sheet entities and other important facts.

Even after the bill is approved, it's certain not to satisfy everybody -- Public Citizen, for example, listed several issues that the bill doesn't address, and some company or individual could decide to challenge the constitutionality of the independent oversight board, which would be overseen by the SEC, but is otherwise free of the usual restraints put on government agencies.

"I'm a little concerned -- I'm in favor of a strong regulatory regime, but I'm not sure we've got it quite right structurally yet," said John Olson, a partner with Washington law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, who serves as chairman of the American Bar Association's Corporate Governance Committee.

"It would be nice to give it more thought," Olson added, "but I understand the need to get cracking and not let the perfect be the enemy of the possible."