Amodei is tax resister

U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei, in an interview with the Washington, D.C., newspaper The Hill, said he won’t support higher taxes even if Nevadans do.

“People said to me recently, ‘I can probably afford to pay a little bit more [in taxes],’” he said. “But here’s my problem: When [the budget is] $1.2 trillion out of whack every year—why would I take more money from you?”

The newspaper reported that Amodei “in all likelihood” will face a challenge from another Republican in this year’s primary, which came as news to Nevada Republican leaders. “I’ll believe it when someone files,” one said.

The Hill speculated that Sharron Angle would file against Amodei. Last year, Angle declined to run for the seat when it was vacant, and she would not have faced an incumbent.

Amodei said he supports the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in spite of a vigorous online campaign against it.

“One time, somebody pulled out their laptop and googled ‘The Killers,’ and half of the first 10 sites advertised free downloads,” he said. “I’m not a big let’s-regulate-it guy, but you can’t do illegal stuff through the mail, you can’t do it over the phone, you can’t do it on TV. What these [sites] are doing is clearly illegal.”

The Killers is a Las Vegas rock ’n’ roll band.