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October 03. 2014 12:01AM Letters to the Editor, Oct. 3 Supporting Bates I am supporting Alan Bates for re-election to the Oregon Senate this fall for a number of reasons, but most importantly for his work to create the CCO concept. The Coordinated Care Organization is an adjunct to the Affordable Care Act and fosters a forward-looking concept of creating Medical Homes that provide comprehensive, efficient and importantly, affordable health care. We are in the midst of an important transformation in the delivery of health care — and as the system matures it will undoubtedly be necessary to make corrections. Dr. Bates is supremely qualified to help make those adjustments. Much will be said in the next few weeks about the failed rollout of Cover Oregon, despite the bipartisan oversight committee. The rollout is a totally separate issue, We are all better off when all the members of our community are healthy. Lee Murdoch, Medford Vote for Merkley The Koch brothers may have announced they've ended their meddling in Oregon politics by canceling Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce ads, but they've simply changed names. Their current negative ads are sponsored by the Freedom Partners Action League. The Kochs have not only misrepresented Jeff Merkley, they've lied to citizens in saying they're pulling ads. It's pretty clear they want to buy themselves a senator. Don't let them get away with it. Vote for Jeff Merkley. Karen Smith, Ashland Who deserves the F? Using a cute little girl to say with hate that "Alan Bates deserves an F" is disturbing. The ad writer, producer and campaign manager for Dave Dotterer deserve the F. Judy Barnes, Medford Sticking with Bates Dave Dotterrer’s latest hit piece against Alan Bates arrived today. In it, he blames Senator Bates for everything wrong with public education in Oregon. However, he does not name a single act he would support to improve the situation in our schools, but rather tosses out phrases like “support reform”, “make a REAL investment,” and “expanding access.” Everything I read informs me that a major reason for public school decline is lack of adequate funding. This arises in large part from Oregon’s poor taxation system, including things like the stupid “kicker” refund. Does Dotterrer believe the public schools need more funding? If so, where will he find it — reformed taxation, or cutting other programs? If he believes the schools do not need additional funding, what does he suggest instead? I am sticking with Senator Bates, who has proven record of solid support for Oregon’s public schools. Charles Sinclair, Medford Why support drugs? If you want more failed government programs like Cover Oregon and more legal drugs to be available, then be sure and vote for Alan Bates. I'm not sure why a local drug treatment program wants pot legalized by bombarding the paper with letters of support for Bates. Alan Bates supports legalization. Can someone please explain why it is healthy to smoke pot? Isn't it a cancer-causing carcinogen?  Chuck Brook, Medford What trend would you like? A climate alarmist said to his associate, “we need to show a trend in this temperature data, can you help?” His associate said: “What trend would you like?” Regarding the issue of carbon causing climate change, the current amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is approximately 350 ppm (parts per million) and the maximum ever is approximately 7,000 ppm, over 20 times the current level about 500 million years ago. At that level, the earth should have burned up a long time ago. How did that CO2 get absorbed without devastating the earth that is predicted with current levels? I have been following the Mail Tribune weather page with current temperatures and “record temperatures and dates.” It is interesting that the record temperature dates vary considerably. Example: On Sept. 16, 2014, the actual high was 86 and the record was 102 degrees, set in 1938. It seems many daily records were set decades ago. If there really was global warming, the temperature trends for Medford (or the world) do not seem to indicate one. The recent week of Sept 21 shows record temperatures nearly 10 degrees higher than we are having. Since no trend exists, “what trend would you like?” Jeff Fox, Medford http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20141003/OPINION/141009917 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->