Obama and Immigration Reform, Recession, and Ted Stevens

Our daily look at stories and topics that are lighting up the Internets:

The Next Battle

The New York Times reports today that President Obama is moving to take on immigration reform, leading the story with the following: "While acknowledging that the recession makes the political battle more difficult, President Obama plans to begin addressing the country's immigration system this year, including looking for a path for illegal immigrants to become legal, a senior administration official said on Wednesday." It didn't take the blogosphere long to begin the debate. Here's how it's shaping up:

Pro: "As if he wasn't already up to his neck in herculean tasks in the near term," writes Dan Amira. And for those Democrats worried that this will hurt Obama's domestic agenda, Amira recommends they become "gluttons for pain and hardship like Obama is." Mark Daniels worries that "the last Democratic president to have so many ambitious priorities was Jimmy Carter." He is, however, cautiously optimistic: "Obama, I believe, is up to the challenge." Liberal Dylan Loewe outlines the problem: "There are, to be sure, some serious risks in addressing immigration reform during an economic crisis." But that doesn't mean tackling the issue is a bad idea. Blake Hounshell predicts the stroke that Obama's move is going to give Lou Dobbs. That said, Hounshell writes, this might be a brilliant political move: "If he moves forward, the GOP's worst elements will come to the fore, branding the party for years to come as narrow-minded and regressive."

Con: Conservative Philip Klein is surprised: "I don't mean that it's unexpected that Obama would support legalizing illegal immigrants, but that he would risk a backlash on such a passionate issue that could seriously hinder his ability to achieve other aspects of his agenda." Klein lists the explanations. This conservative is surprised as well: "The speculation had been that Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, would oppose a serious push until after the president" was safely into his second term. "The kind of legalization process envisioned by Obama will be even less popular now than when it got derailed in 2007," writes conservative Ed Morrissey. He gives his take on the issue: "Illegal immigrants do not have a 'civil right' to normalization.... No foreigner is entitled to American citizenship, but we offer it when people meet certain conditions—like respecting our laws and emigrating properly to the US."

Handling the Recession

Bloggers are engaged in more than a few interesting discussions on the economic crisis today. Umair Haque, unhappy as he is with Obama's handling of the economy, wonders if President Obama is channeling George W. Bush. Then again, maybe "wonders" is the wrong word: "Obama is the new Dubya. When it comes to finance at least, the parallels are way (way) too striking to ignore." Fraser Nelson writes on the connection between conservatism and laissez-faire economics: "Modern conservatism is based on an explicit rejection of laissez-faire... [but] you can't predict the future; there are too many variables. And terrible things happen when government is hubristic enough to think that it has cracked it." Economist Mark Thoma posts this interesting piece on regulatory cycles, and Hiro Ito talks about the enduring trilemma policymakers always face when confronting an economic crisis.

... Meanwhile ...

A 2014 comeback for Ted Stevens?... Americans just aren't that into capitalism anymore... Obama's White House: "What, me, bow?"... Plus, the evolution of bra sizes: when DD is the new C.