A year ago, with the markets and the economy in meltdown, the SmartMoney Power 30 was full of the usual cast of government giants and Wall Street heavyweights: Bernanke, Geithner, Buffett. But as we move to a new phase, a time of slow but seemingly steady recovery, some of the biggest players might seem more on the fringe academics, advisers, even a lobbyist. What follows is a mix of the famous and not-so-famous, all trying to make sure in their own way that the Great Recession turns into the Great Recovery.

The Blue Dog Democrats
Caucus, U.S. House of Representatives

Democratic Congressional leaders have to keep their party united to pass legislation these days, so their worst nightmare is the Blue Dog Democrats: about 50 House members known for their fiscally conservative viewpoints. This summer they flexed their muscle when fiery Arkansas Rep. Mike Ross publicly protested that party leaders were "cramming" the president's health care bill down his caucus's "throats." That caused party leaders to whittle down the bill's price tag and delay a vote past the original August deadline.

Expect the group to continue to watch the budget deficit and spending, too. "They've basically become the margin of difference," says Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at University of Virginia, "between difficult bills passing or failing in Washington." Burned once by the cap-and-trade vote, they could stand in the way of any future energy price hikes. And if Obama attempts a second economic stimulus? "They'll oppose that," Sabato predicts, "with relish."

Angela Braly
CEO, Wellpoint

Angela Braly, CEO of Wellpoint (WLP), the country's largest health insurer, often emphasizes her humble roots -- including her waitress job growing up. No doubt she's facing another hardscrabble situation now. Although Braly recently raised premiums to correct pricing missteps the company made in 2008, Wellpoint has since suffered steep earning drops as members filed more health claims and customers lost their jobs-and health insurance. "We remain optimistic about the future," Braly, 48, says of those developments, adding the company has had a "strong selling season" for 2010.

But analysts will be watching her closely in the coming months. Because Wellpoint gets more of its business from the individual -- versus employer-provided -- insurance market, the company has the most to lose if health reforms ultimately create a cheaper, public insurance plan to compete with insurers. She'll have to guard against that while also watching the roughly one-third of her business that comes from public programs like Medicaid, hard hit by state budget woes. "If reforms aren't dramatic," says Matthew Coffina, a Morningstar analyst, "Wellpoint stock could be seriously undervalued" due to all that uncertainty. For now, time will tell for Braly -- and her industry.

Karen Ignagni
CEO, America's Health Insurance Plans

The last time major health care reform was debated, Karen Ignagni, the lead lobbyist for the health insurance industry, was working behind the scenes as a representative of organized labor, urging then-President Bill Clinton not to be "too timid" with his efforts. So some people are surprised by the seat Ignani is sitting in now as the lead lobbyist for the health insurance industry. One day before this month's crucial Senate Finance Committee vote on reform legislation, Ignagni released a report predicting that the bill under consideration would raise health insurance premiums for families by almost $5,000 in four years.

To some, it was a stunning maneuver-especially since Ignagni had supported Congress's efforts for months prior to that; the report was criticized for not taking into account the government subsidies to offset a family's premium costs. "Karen is pretty politically savvy as anyone I've ever seen when it comes to protecting her industry's interests," says Wendell Potter, a former Cigna executive turned industry critic. The report touched off a move in the House to create a public option that would compete with insurers head-on. For her part, Ignagni says her group still supports health care reform that covers all Americans, but that it's concerned about the "workability and cost" of the legislation that came out of the Senate Finance Committee.

Billy Tauzin
CEO, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America

It's not often that a lobbyist publicly pressures the White House to acknowledge a backroom deal it has made with his industry. But few lobbyists have the negotiating power of the 66-year-old Tauzin, the folksy former Louisiana politician turned chief Washington power broker for the pharmaceutical industry. "Who is ever going to go into a deal with the White House again if they don't keep their word?" he asked reporters after a House committee passed a version of health reform that would cost his industry $110 billion over a decade. Administration officials promptly admitted they had told Tauzin they'd oppose any effort to push that price tag above $80 billion.

That sort of gamesmanship is familiar to longtime observers of Tauzin, nicknamed "the swamp fox" back home. "Of all the stakeholders in health care, he's most used to winning," says Ron Pollack, executive director of research group FamiliesUSA. Tauzin has campaigned to improve the industry's image, even creating a television program, Sharing Miracles, featuring consumers helped by drugs. All that could prove useful, since the battles aren't likely to end with health reform: Some Democrats want to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, costing pharmaceutical companies an estimated $30 billion annually.

The 2009 SmartMoney Power 30

• The Government
• Finance and Wall Street
• Real Estate
• Industry
• Health and Medicine

• The List