Angle thinks Congress should clarify 14th Amendment because illegal immigrants “not under our jurisdiction”

By Jon Ralston

Monday, Aug. 9, 2010 | 2:59 p.m.

GOP Senate nominee Sharron Angle, during a media availability earlier Monday, argued "certainly someone who has not come here under the rule of law is not under our jurisdiction," aligning herself with prominent Republicans who have agitated for Capitol Hill action on what she and others call "the anchor baby issue."

"I think Congress needs to become involved," Angle said at her campaign headquarters during a 15-minute Q and A with a handful of journalists.

Angle said she consulted on the issue with John Eastman, a constitutional law expert she has used since 2003, when he advised her on that federal lawsuit against the then-largest tax increase in history. (She has consistently implied the issue went to the U.S. Supreme Court, but it never was heard there.)

When asked about the DREAM Act, Angle said she is "skeptical of Democrtaic proposals because generally cloaked within those proposals is amnesty ... The rule of law should apply equally to every part of our society."

Angle also told the media, "We want to stick to the issues; that's why I'm glad you're here. I made some comments about making friends with the press and really talking about the issues that really matter to Nevadans." And the ones that really matter to her in gaining political advantage, too — as she put it earlier, "The economy. The economy. The economy."

Angle also was asked about Reid's "war is lost" remark, which came up over the weekend after news reports showed some revisionist history by the Reid campaign. "I think certainly Harry Reid demoralized the troops by saying the war is lost," she said. "He has given the military deep concerns with his support for them."

Angle spoke to the media after a rah-rah speech to some volunteers assembled in a courtyard adjacent to her headquarters on the west side of the Las Vegas Valley. Angle said the campaign will be "moving forward with other messages," and added, "We welcome the discussion on Social Security."

She would later downplay the trustees saying last week that benefits could still be paid until 2037 and focused on the 2010 news that the red ink was starting to flow. Even though most analysts agree that either payroll tax increases or benefit cuts will be needed to solve the problem — hence the lack of action — she suggested pouring unused stimulus money and repaid TARP funds to help replace what she calls the IOUs currently there. Really?

And she painted quite the picture of Reid on the economy and the stimulus promises, saying, "This man knows no bounds when he's spreading fear."

Sounds like a scary man.