Whether it’s because we end up going over the fiscal cliff or because Republicans agree to President Obama’s plan of not extending the Bush tax cuts on America’s wealthiest earners, the possibility of an effective tax hike means that higher-income Californians may be in for a whopping aggregate marginal tax rate. The super-liberal state already succeeded in approving their own rate hike with Proposition 30 in the November election, and combined with the potential federal raises, they could be looking at a top bracket with a marginal income tax rate of just under

52 percent .

We already knew that California was headed for a fall but here’s yet another problem with top-down government and specifically with President Obama’s proposals to hike taxes across-the-board on those he deems wealthy, i.e. families making more than $250k/year. As Joel Kotkin writes for Forbes, it’s kind of odd that blue states voted so overwhelmingly against their own self-interest in reelecting Barack Obama, because the tax hikes he campaigned on will come down disproportionately hard on the economies of blue states.

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Gerald Molen, the Oscar-winning producer of Schindler’s List, is claiming political bias because a documentary movie he produced this year isn't up for an Oscar, even though that film, 2016: Obama’s America, made more money at the box office than the combined earning of the 15 films the Academy deemed eligible.

2016

, a negative take on President Barack Obama co-written and directed by author Dinesh D’Souza, earned $33.4 million at the domestic box office. But its omission on the list of the 15 documentaries the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Monday would advance in the voting process makes it ineligible for an Oscar.

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A local man is facing child neglect charges after he reportedly left an infant in the care of a pit bull while he went out to drink.

The mother of the 10-month old left her child in the care of 41-year-old James Irvine, However, Irvine soon abandoned the child to go out drinking.

When the mother arrived home, she discovered Irvine trying to get back into the house through the garage door.

He allegedly told her that, though he had been at a bar, he did not leave the child alone – rather, it was in the care of a pit bull.

The dog was seated outside the room where the child was left. The door was shut, and the child was allegedly CRYING.

He was reportedly arrested around 12:30 a.m. Saturday after police were called to the residence.

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A Ukrainian coffin maker is helping potential customers get comfortable -- but not too comfortable.

Stepan Piryanyk, an enterprising funerary box maker in Truskavets, offers afterlife-fearing patrons the opportunity to rest in peace with a session of coffin therapy.

Customers relax with the lid open or closed -- their choice -- and leave in a peaceful state of clarity and bliss. Hopefully.

If Piryanyk is looking to expand his market, the Mustache does not recommend releasing a calendar of topless girls with his caskets,

like one Polish coffin maker did, much to the anger of the Catholic Church .

Either way, everyone ends up a customer eventually.