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Show Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012 Views&Opinion Page II Areas for cooperation in Congress Nat'l View A look at what others are saying EN, There will be plenty of fights between Republicans and Democrats in the next Congress, but here are five areas where there could be genuine collaboration: —K-12 education reform. After many years of falling test scores, it should be agreed that what we are doing isn't working. Compromise on refashioning No Child Left Behind should allow for blockgranting, greater state control, charter schools and school-choice experimentation (some of which Mitt Romney cited on the trail). If Democrats want to subsidize the hiring of more teachers, trade-offs can be made. —Privacy. All it takes to interest Republicans in cyberprivacy is the FBI snooping on military leaders. Conservatives, who have in the past been enamored of prosecutorial power, should be concerned about drone spying. And civil libertarians of all stripes should start thinking about reasonable limits on federal power. The medical device tax. Few taxes are as counterproductive as this Obamacare tax, which is regressive (hitting rich and poor users of medical devices), anti-business and anti-innovation. Surely lawmakers can come up with something better than taxing wheelchairs and innovative insulin-testing equipment. —College tuition and school loan reform. Students today are encouraged to load up on debt, regardless of their likely future income; universities have little reason to curb costs or to deliver education efficiently; and too few people work in skilled technical positions. Rather than perpetuating this system by insisting that everyone go to a four-year college and taxpayers must subsidize uneconomical choices, law- makers should rethink the student loan system, trying to encourage alternative educational avenues (twoyear colleges, technical certification programs, etc.) and make taxpayer-subsidized universities deliver a meaningful education at a reasonable cost. —Energy policy. The Wall Street Journal reports that a shale-oil boom "will thrust the U.S. ahead of Saudi Arabia as the world's largest oil producer by 2020," citing the International Energy Agency. Surely there is a bipartisan group of lawmakers to push a real energy strategy. President Obama may be ideologically joined at the hip with radical environmentalists, but the promise of energy independence and new jobs is alluring. - Jennifer Rubin is a conservative columnist and a blogger for the Washington Post. To ,early to 7fiffik tfioat JGM Not Hardy! Cneck oat the Statesman Travel Center wwwatanstatesman.com for JGki47staaleht deals/ e BREAKING: La. Tech stacks up well LATE NIGHT HAPPY HOUR let's just say we think La. Tech's defense — USU's offense > USU's defense - La. Tech's offense. 2 GREAT TIMES. ONE LOW PRICE. ► From page 9 and ignore the Utah game. Aggies win in a close game. In effect, this game will decide the WAC champion. La. Tech is 9-1 and Utah State is 8-2. Both teams are 4-0 in the WAC. While it is possible for San Jose State to upset the Bulldogs at home next week and complicate things with a perceivable three-way tie situation, nobody thinks it's going to happen. See the related story in this issue for all the keys to the game, but rig Arizona at Utah Sorry to all you closet Ute fans, but nobody in the office thinks Utah will pull this one out. Yes, the Wildcats are only 6-4 but they have already faced five Top-25 teams, including a win over No. 9 USC two weeks ago. What has Utah done? Well, they were picked to finish second in the Pac-12 South and have done nothing to live up to that expectation. The Utes can't even get past the mediocre teams in the conference, and with a better draw Arizona might not have a mediocre conference record. The only way Utah wins is if Snowmageddon 2.0 hits and freezes the Arizona players when they step off the plane in Salt Lake City. Have some beef with our picks? Let us know online at www.usustatesman.corn BUFFET NOW ONLY Late Night: 8-10pm Weekdays 9-11 pm Weekends Happy Hour: 2-4pm Weekdays 25 E 1400 N Logan (435) 753.5590 Next to Harbor Freight * PizzaPieCafe real american pizza _TACKSOAT "HOLETcom _ I PULL THE TRIGGER ON YOUR i LA I NEW POWDERMONIUM PASS: $499 135 DAYS NO RESTRICTIONS UNA COLLEGE SIX PACK: $299 ANY 6 DAYS OF THE SEASON ON SALE AUGUST 1- NOVEMBER 23, 2012 ONLY |