On healthcare, Congress must navigate tricky political terrain

The great unknown of the healthcare debate is whether the current political landscape will prove more hospitable to mandates, cost controls, and tax increases—all measures now on the table that helped doom President Clinton's plan. But Obama enjoys some key advantages the last Democratic president did not. The economic crisis has made healthcare stakeholders more receptive to change, and unlike Clinton, this White House is allowing House and Senate committee chairmen to design the legislation with a heavy dose of administration input.