Guard, gunman die in Vegas building shooting...

[Thor777]

Guard, gunman die in Vegas building shooting

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100104/ap_on_re_us/us_federal_building_shooting

LAS VEGAS – A man dressed in black walked into a federal building Monday in downtown Las Vegas and opened fire with a shotgun, killing a court security guard and wounding a U.S. marshal before he was shot to death in a running gunbattle.

The gunfire erupted moments after 8 a.m. at the start of the work week and lasted for several minutes. Shots echoed around tall buildings in the area, more than a mile north of the Las Vegas Strip. An Associated Press reporter on the eighth floor of a high-rise within sight of the federal building heard a sustained barrage of gunfire.

A passer-by said he counted at least 40 shots.

[brichter]

Sorry to hear about the guard and the Marshal, it's good to know we taxpayers won't have the burden of the trial and long incarceration for the gunman.



"Right now they have no motive established," Ensign told a news conference outside the building. "Bottom line is, he didn't get past security."

Sounds like Janet Napolitano could learn a few security tips from these folks. 

[Thor777]

"He walked in with a shotgun underneath his jacket and opened fire when he opened the doors."

 "Seven officers responded and returned fire.

WHAT in the world was he thinking?   Suicide by COP? 

[stayouttadabunker]

Kinda falls into the category..."Is It Worth It?"     
Good-bye bad guy.....Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah...

[reho33]

For him I guess it wasn't worth it.................

[rickhunter]

I read somewhere that he was upset that he lost some social security "entitlements" and had sued the government for them but lost, and that's what caused him to go haywire.  If this is the case, that's a pretty weak excuse to go haywire.

[brichter]

I heard it was a pretty substantial cut to his SS benefits when he moved from CA to NV.

<edit>


Yup, they took him from $974/month to $688/month, almost a 30% cut.

Pretty long rap sheet, too:

FBI: Vegas shooter had 'lengthy' criminal history






MODERATOR: Edited url to avoid horizontal scroll.  SF

[Op-Bell]

I heard it was a pretty substantial cut to his SS benefits when he moved from CA to NV.

Wrong city, wrong building. He should have been in Carson City at the State Capitol. That's where Nevada's SS benefits are decided. The Feds are the provider of last resort in this state - the number of welfare recipients living entirely on Federal food stamps with no cash and no state benefits has tripled in the last two years, and is by far the highest per-capita in the nation.

[StatFreak]

I don't understand how the state would have anything to do with SS benefits. Isn't SS a federal program that we pay into as we work, and aren't our benefits determined by how much we've contributed over the years?

[brichter]

I don't understand how the state would have anything to do with SS benefits. Isn't SS a federal program that we pay into as we work, and aren't our benefits determined by how much we've contributed over the years?

The state gov't. doesn't have anything to do with benefits dis bursement, but it was probably a case where you've got a criminal who isn't too smart and any gov't. bldg would have suited his purpose.

As far as why they reduced his benefits, maybe they decided he didn't need as much since he moved from CA to NV? That sounds like something the gov't. would do, or maybe they just decided he was dead.

Don't laugh, they did that to my stepdad 4 years ago, it took him 3 years and numerous in-person appearances to convince them that he was alive. Those folks can fall under the "not-so-bright" category also.

[stayouttadabunker]

...Those folks can fall under the "not-so-bright" category also.

LOL   I fell into that category a few times myself...

[StatFreak]

...

Don't laugh, they did that to my stepdad 4 years ago, it took him 3 years and numerous in-person appearances to convince them that he was alive. Those folks can fall under the "not-so-bright" category also.

Bureaucratic idiocy. Reminds me of the Vogons. 

[brichter]

K+ for the HHGTTG reference! 

[Op-Bell]

Doh! That will teach me to read the article properly before commenting. I thought they cut his unemployment benefit.

As for SS contributions, you're telling me we get something back? I thought that was just an extra income tax on the low paid.

[StatFreak]

Doh! That will teach me to read the article properly before commenting. I thought they cut his unemployment benefit.

As for SS contributions, you're telling me we get something back? I thought that was just an extra income tax on the low paid.

Yes. It's a tax on the poor and lower middle class (and some of the upper middle class*, but they can afford it) created by the first half of the baby boomers to ensure their comfortable retirement at the expense of the last half of the baby boomers. As one of the very last of the boomers, I expect to get what's coming to me: nothing. If the system isn't broke when I retire, I'll probably die of shock and save them money that way.


*Indexed annually, 2009 Social Security withholding is 6.2% of an employees wages up to $106,800. Medicare withholding is 1.45% of an employees wages, without limit.  The employer matches this tax, for a total contribution of 15.3%. The Social Security tax in 2010 remains at $106,800. Self employed tax payers must pay the full 15.3%.

Note: The wealthy who live on interest and dividend income from stocks and bonds, and passive income from real estate, pay nothing into social security.

[Op-Bell]

Self employed tax payers must pay the full 15.3%.

Tell me about it. On top of my marginal rate it makes it hardly worth working on the side at all, except that half a loaf is better than nothing in hard times. It's going to kill me this year.

Once, when I had a particularly good year, I passed the SS threshold in November. I was utterly taken aback by the amount my paychecks jumped for the remainder of the year. If that happened to everyone once in a while so they could see how the other half 5% lives, I think there would be a change in attitude towards taxing the rich.

[StatFreak]

I know what you mean. It's one of the reasons that I always charged much more for contract services done on a 1099 than for W2 work. It's nasty.

[brichter]

As for SS contributions, you're telling me we get something back? I thought that was just an extra income tax on the low paid.

Actually, Stat got it right. It's a tax we pay so that others who have come before us can enjoy their retirement. There will be nothing left when we retire...

[Thor777]

As for SS contributions, you're telling me we get something back? I thought that was just an extra income tax on the low paid.

Actually, Stat got it right. It's a tax we pay so that others who have come before us can enjoy their retirement. There will be nothing left when we retire...

I just got my SS statement you get every year just before your birthday and I figured out that I can comfortably retire from my job at age 82