Brad Wardell's views about technology, politics, religion, world affairs, and all sorts of politically incorrect topics.
Published on December 23, 2008 By Draginol In Politics

Obama joke

 

So my tax bill for April is starting to come together and it's looking pretty bad. I've been paying estimated taxes all year but we had a particularly good year this year and since many of our projects run under S-corporations, their profits get tied to my personal return (like most small business owners).

Our company has around 70 people in it. We'd have more but we literally can't fit anyone else in the building.  We're in the process of building out other parts of the building we own but of course, that requires a lot of money.

Some of these projects will have to be put off until mid next year or later depending on how well Demigod, Sins of a Solar Empire: Entrenchment, Object Desktop 2009, and ironically, how well our partner Dell does (buy Dell computers! ).

The reason they have to be put off is not that we don't have the capital to build out more of the building and hire more people, we do. It's that that money is going to go to the government instead in the form of income taxes -- almost $2 million of it in fact.

Now obviously, the government needs money to pay for vital services. I don't begrudge paying taxes on principle.  But too often, people forget where government money ultimately comes from. Worse, they are totally unaware of the consequences of taxation.

Taxes should always be kept as low as humanly possible because when you tax, you are literally taking from the people who are the most productive with capital and often giving it to the least.

Stardock, for instance, is based in the Detroit area of Michigan. So there is a certain sense of irony that the $2 million the government is taking from us is going to be given to the Auto companies and other companies have have absolutely demonstrated that they are terrible with capital.  Heck, our $2 million probably was used up in the hearings leading up to the vote on the bail out for the auto industry which Bush ultimately and unwisely decided to ignore.

So instead of using that $2 million to hire workers to build out another 8000 square feet so that we can hire an additional 24 more people this next year (to open more development teams to work on more projects for OEMs, gamers, and general consumers) we'll have to wait until we make enough money from the sales of our projects next year.  Way to go government...


Comments (Page 3)
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on Dec 26, 2008

I don't do video games but I hardly believe they are "useless." Usually, I have observed, it is when people are at play that they learn something and figure things out on a deeper level.

on Dec 26, 2008

Oh I love this guy. A bitter, envious small minded person tries to cover up his bitter, envious nature:

For the record.  Avodah is Sodaiho. I said nothing about the person, Toughlove, only that the gaming industry produces useless products that people want.  Games have little to no redeeming value.  They detract from real education, useful and productive activity, and drain dollars from families,

No, you just randomly, out of the blue selected the one industry that Brad is obviously apart of. You could have picked any number of industries that produce luxury goods like recreational boats, jet skies, sports cars, candy makers, and so on but you just, randomly I suppose, picked games.

In order to pick that example, you had to show an immense amount of ignorance on the topic. 

Games are used in education, rehabilitation, etc. all the time. Like many people who frequent these forums, I've played Stardock's games. Strategy games are their speciality. Chess is a strategy game. Go is a strategy game. I am sure the tapestry of life has been diminished by the existence of such games.

Stardock happens to make games that are educational. The Political Machine shows how the electoral system works and what issues matter in different states. It also teaches geography. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that schools use the game.

I just find it so laughable that you try to make it out that you picked games at random when, compared to most luxuries, games are amongst the most beneficial to society. 

If Brad was the owner of Hershey's or a jewelry store or a toy manufacturer I have no doubt that you would have singled those industries out as being singularly "without redeeming value". Your goal was to belittle and insult Brad on the basis that he doesn't share your politics. That you did so on Christmas day......that you took time out on Christmas day to say something so loathsome says a lot about your personal life.

For this opinion, I am banished.  so much for free speech on the right.

What free speech? If someone throws a party and someone arrives and begins acting like a douchebag how ridiculous would it be for him to whine about free speech as the host kicks him out?

Let's say it's not a party but more like a store. Same thing. Act like a douchebag in a store and you'll get escorted out too. If you don't like being treated like refuse, then don't act like a douchebag.

BTW, Brad knows as well as I that dollars invested in business reduce his tax burden. Even sole proprieters know that they are taxed only on dollars after the cost of doing business is deducted.

I won't claim to be a business genius. But I do know that only an idiot would spend every single cent that they earn in a given year leaving nothing for a rainy day.

But let's go with your premise that Brad should have spent more during the year. So what? The article actually says that he has no problem with taxes. He just wants people to see the effects of taxes on businesses.  

If the "$2 million" in taxes being extracted from his business are being spent well then that's the end of discussion. But are they? Sure doesn't look like it.

Believe me, if Brad's baby stardock, was in jeopardy, he'd be first in the bailout line.

Believe you? Why? This sounds like a classic case of projection. Bitter, lonely envious men who spend their Christmas day telling people that their jobs are without redeeming value probably imagine everybody is bitter, lonely and envious too.

 

 

 

on Dec 26, 2008

Disclaimer: I work at Stardock.

Believe me, if Brad's baby stardock, was in jeopardy, he'd be first in the bailout line.

In the late 90s, Stardock made software for OS/2. When that market collapsed, a lot of Stardock's partners filed for bankruptcy owing Stardock a lot of money.

Brad, with his wife and new baby, could have just filed for bankrupcty too rather than pay the people they owed money to but now couldn't because of our partners failing to pay us. Instead, he took out a mortgage on the house he had fully paid off in order to pay employee salaries, pay royalties and other companies that Stardock worked on.

If I remember right, Brad also went without a salary, dipping into his retirement but Brad can speak more on that if he wants to make ends meet.

If Stardock had still failed, he would have lost his house and his retirement would have been depleted. But he put his employees and his responsibilities in front of his own personal needs.

To say he would be "first in the bail out line" is both insulting and ignorant. No wonder you were kicked off the site. 

on Dec 26, 2008

What a guy. I did the same with my company.  Its what people who actually create something do on hard times. So?  I admire Brad for this behavior.  It was the right thing to do. But being a leader actually requires him to rise above himself.  Something he failed to do in this case. His ego got in the way.

 

As to gaming: I love educational games, my grandchildren love noggin.com, etc.  but I really do not think that its a large market share for the gaming industry...I may be wrong...but what I see from Stardock's ads have more to do with violence, than anything else or am I incorrect?    Perhaps I should have been more gracious. Still, I thought hyperbole was a rhetorical tool. Brad's blog, Opinionated Techie invites critique. Or maybe I am mistaken.  Perhaps he could have responded by showing me how the gaming industry provides an actual useful service to society?  Or maybe he could not have called me an "asshole".

 

I hold no animosity toward Frogboy really.  My blogs are safe: I post on other sites, so to delete them only harms those who have invested time and energy in conversing with me.

 

Be well.

 

on Dec 26, 2008

I see Sodaiho returned with an alias and also wrote this:

https://forums.joeuser.com/post.aspx?postid=334414

Let's be clear on a few things:

1. My post is not a complaint about taxes.  The point was to illustrate the actual effect it has on job creation.  

People are certainly free to dismiss what I write. But then again, one might argue that an intelligent person might see it as an opportunity to hear from a business person what taxes affect. 

Similarly, if we were discussing medicine and there was a doctor in the discussion we might consider it an opportunity to hear from them. Or if we were discussing home repair and there was a professional carpenter in the discussion some might consider that an opportunity too.

However, people who tend to fail in life (use whatever definition you want for that) often display a similar feature -- they are only willing to learn from those who already share their particular world view. 

2. Little Whip, who has used illegal recreational drugs her entire adult life (according to her) complains about my conspicuous consumption.   The only conspicuous consumption that I can think of is my sports car.  But the crazy house I'm building? That's an asset that will appreciate over time. It's certainly more than I "need" but then again, who defines the minimum "need"?

Conspicous consumption would, in my mind, be someone who can barely afford life's basics to throw money away on drugs and alcohol. 

3. This discussion has been interesting because of the ire it has raised by those who seek ways to rationalize the shortcomings of their own lives.  

It's the classic "I don't like/want X therefore it is worthless".  One trait of the left I've noticed is that they seem more vocal about saying what things have value and what things do not.

To Sodaiho, games are without redeeming value. Yet, one must wonder, does he listen to music? Does music have value?

What about books?  Does he read fiction books? 

What about plays, operas, and musicals? Are those without value as well?

Outside food, clothing, and shelter, we get to a very slippery slope about what has value or not.

My opinion is that we, as a society, decide what has value and what does not based on our voluntary purchases.  Unlike the government, I can't force people to pay me money. 

But I think any reasonable person would agree that Sodaiho picked games because he thought, wrongly, that that was the primary source of my economic prosperity.  But it's completely irrelevant what the particular source is.

The point is, a business produces products and services that people volunarily choose to buy or not buy. People, being sentient creatures, can decide as individuals what has value and what does not; what is useful and what is not.  

A 61 year old Buhdist poser might say that games have no value while happily listening to eastern chant music he purchased with incents lit around him.

A 45 year old school teacher might say that rap music has no value while being excited about the new diamond neckless her husband just gave her.

And the 20 year old college student might think that fiction books are a waste while being enthralled in Fable 2 on his Xbox 360.

4. For those who are interested in the root topic here the question is: Who spends money better?  If you think the government spends it better then make that case. 

As a company in the Detroit area who wants to hire more people but currently can't because there's not enough physical room in the building and needs to be built out (which, incidentally, can't be written off other than in long-term depreciation because construction is creating assets, it's not a consumable expense contrary to what Sodaiho thought) I would think that most people would agree that the government should be very leery about confiscating our capital -- especially when they're handing it out to business failures.

 

on Dec 26, 2008

What a guy. I did the same with my company.  Its what people who actually create something do on hard times. So?  I admire Brad for this behavior.  It was the right thing to do. But being a leader actually requires him to rise above himself.  Something he failed to do in this case. His ego got in the way.

You really are quite a jerk aren't you?

You said that Brad would be the first in line for a bail out if his company was on the line. Then, when shwon to be wrong, that the situation actually happened and far from asking for a hand out Brad put his own house and retirement on the line to save his employees and pay for obligations he had taken on, you dismiss it.

What did he fail to do in this case? You come onto his blog and tell him what he does is without redeeming value. He has no obligation to you. You're a guess on his blog and he tossed you out on your butt. Grow up and take some responsbility.

on Dec 26, 2008

What a guy. I did the same with my company.  Its what people who actually create something do on hard times. So?  I admire Brad for this behavior.  It was the right thing to do. But being a leader actually requires him to rise above himself.  Something he failed to do in this case. His ego got in the way.

 

As to gaming: I love educational games, my grandchildren love noggin.com, etc.  but I really do not think that its a large market share for the gaming industry...I may be wrong...but what I see from Stardock's ads have more to do with violence, than anything else or am I incorrect?    Perhaps I should have been more gracious. Still, I thought hyperbole was a rhetorical tool. Brad's blog, Opinionated Techie invites critique. Or maybe I am mistaken.  Perhaps he could have responded by showing me how the gaming industry provides an actual useful service to society?  Or maybe he could not have called me an "asshole".

 

I hold no animosity toward Frogboy really.  My blogs are safe: I post on other sites, so to delete them only harms those who have invested time and energy in conversing with me.

To quote what I saw someone else write, you are a total poser.

If you held no animosity towards Brad you would not have written the comment about games in the first place because they had nothing to do with what was being discussed.

What Brad does for a living has nothing to do with what was being written. You chose to insult the game industry precisely because you do hold animosity towards him. 

Why would Brad take time out to argue that games or any other luxury item has value? Of course they have value. Why do you think people buy them? You only attacked them because you are an asshole.

 

on Dec 26, 2008

I came, I read, I see someone being pounded for expressing HIS OPINION! in the final analysis that is all Sodaiho did express a his opinion about the gaming industry, Agree or disagree {personally I disagree with Sodaiho on this issue} Brad is entitled to do what he wants to do here on his site that he created for us to play with free of charge. Brad could just simply say fuck this and tomorrow there could be NO JOEUSER at all if he chose to do so. I hope he never does that. For so many people to jump on Sodaiho for expressing an OPINION kind of makes me wonder why. Just a thought from someone that has bumped heads with Sodaiho many, many times on many different issues, so no one can say I am an friend or Allie of his.

on Dec 26, 2008

I think any value in luxury items is mostly in the eye of the beholder. To stick with one of Brad's examples, the diamond necklace would have no value to me, but given to my girlfriend she might think otherwise Of course it represents a certain value if I take it to a jeweller.

As for the original question: do we trust government to spend wisely.. I can only refer to a lot of money wasted in the netherlands over the years on large infrastructural 'enhancements' that will never be worth the money that went in building them (case in point the goods railconnection they built with Germany that cost at least twice the original budget and is not expected to be earning money for years to come, let alone pay back the investment), IT projects that are constantly rebudgetted and never finished, a chip card project that was hacked before it even got implemented..

The other part of the question is of course do we trust people making money to use it in a benificial way? I'm not so sure about banks these days, but for people who own their own company like Brad I'd expect they'd want to keep it at least as competitive as it is now - to grow it where possible.

 

on Dec 26, 2008

I came, I read, I see someone being pounded for expressing HIS OPINION! in the final analysis that is all Sodaiho did express a his opinion about the gaming industry, Agree or disagree {personally I disagree with Sodaiho on this issue} Brad is entitled to do what he wants to do here on his site that he created for us to play with free of charge. Brad could just simply say fuck this and tomorrow there could be NO JOEUSER at all if he chose to do so. I hope he never does that. For so many people to jump on Sodaiho for expressing an OPINION kind of makes me wonder why. Just a thought from someone that has bumped heads with Sodaiho many, many times on many different issues, so no one can say I am an friend or Allie of his.

If someone expresses the opinion that they hope my business dies then I am more than happy to express my desire for them to go and back it up with the reality that I can make them go.

He wasn't expressing a general opinion. He was expressing his specific desire that the business that pays for this site fails.  

JoeUser isn't a public service. It's my site. I've said this countless times. Be wary of pissing off the owner. 

on Dec 26, 2008

I have enjoyed reading this blog...interesting debate.

on Dec 26, 2008

I came, I read, I see someone being pounded for expressing HIS OPINION! in the final analysis that is all Sodaiho did express a his opinion about the gaming industry, Agree or disagree {personally I disagree with Sodaiho on this issue}

If I come into your house and I express the opinion that it would be better for the world that you died of cancer what would you do? Where's my free speech? 

The guy came into a discussion about the effects of taxation and out of the blue started talking about how he hopes that Brad's company and the industry it's in dies. 

The internet is an intriguing thing. It lets guys like Sodaiho write ugly things from the privacy of anonymity. If he behaved like he did in person, he'd get punched in the nose.

on Dec 26, 2008

As a company in the Detroit area who wants to hire more people but currently can't because there's not enough physical room in the building and needs to be built out

Seems to me much of the work done in your business could be done from anywhere. I understand allowing non-employees to work on programing could be problematic but subbing out work like character creation and other digital art could work quite well for you. You could even hold contest like you do with the GUI championships to acquire some of the content for your productions. I know other digital content companies like Pixar subcontract some of their character creation.

You'll have to agree there's allot of untapped artistic talent out there that could be harnessed without the extra cost of an employee. Not having to pay for anything you don't use is a big plus too.

On topic, a healthy and stimulating blog site needs it's characters as well and while I agree Sodaiho was wrong and should probably stick to theological and spiritual discussions he is an interesting character and contributes much to the variety of this site. Could you perhaps consider just blacklisting him from your threads to be sufficient to keep him out of your hair?

 

 

on Dec 26, 2008

Draginol

I came, I read, I see someone being pounded for expressing HIS OPINION! in the final analysis that is all Sodaiho did express a his opinion about the gaming industry, Agree or disagree {personally I disagree with Sodaiho on this issue} Brad is entitled to do what he wants to do here on his site that he created for us to play with free of charge. Brad could just simply say fuck this and tomorrow there could be NO JOEUSER at all if he chose to do so. I hope he never does that. For so many people to jump on Sodaiho for expressing an OPINION kind of makes me wonder why. Just a thought from someone that has bumped heads with Sodaiho many, many times on many different issues, so no one can say I am an friend or Allie of his.


If someone expresses the opinion that they hope my business dies then I am more than happy to express my desire for them to go and back it up with the reality that I can make them go.

He wasn't expressing a general opinion. He was expressing his specific desire that the business that pays for this site fails.  

JoeUser isn't a public service. It's my site. I've said this countless times. Be wary of pissing off the owner. 

Which is why I never piss you off brad, I tread carefully when you are involved. Besides you are usually a very fair man and are difficult to annoy.

Peace,

MM

on Dec 26, 2008

On topic, a healthy and stimulating blog site needs it's characters as well and while I agree Sodaiho was wrong and should probably stick to theological and spiritual discussions he is an interesting character and contributes much to the variety of this site. Could you perhaps consider just blacklisting him from your threads to be sufficient to keep him out of your hair?

If this were a democracy I'd vote for that.  

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