Hi all,

I’m a newbie on LGF, finally hit the registration jackpot tonight.

I’ve been reading for about 6 weeks. I came over initially from John Cole’s Balloon Juice site. I’ll be up front and say that I’m likely further left than most here. But I like to think I’m respectful of other opinions and I’m really happy to find a “right-wing” site to learn and interact with others with different political views.

I appreciate that commenters here are not anti-evolution and anti-global warming. I’m hoping to talk with people who want to help bridge the divide between Americans and not just call each other libtards and rethuglicans. I appreciate conservative values, even if I may not always agree.

I will also say upfront that health care is a huge issue for my family. My hus was diagnosed with cancer in 2003 and then was laid off from his job 8 months later (he’d been there 10 years). We both know that he was let go because his presence on their insurance rolls raised everyone’s rates. I was a stay at home mom at the time, so we were pretty scared. I lost one possible job opportunity when I was dumb enough to ask about health insurance benefits after they offered me a position. Shortly after that, they rescinded their offer. I think tying health insurance directly to employment makes that kind of situation a lot more common than people might think. I also think it makes us less entrepreneurial. When you have to buy health insurance on the private market you have much less choice, much higher costs, and they won’t even take you if you have a pre-existing condition.

But I try to see both sides in every debate and I don’t try to force my pov on anyone. If I feel that it’s best I’ll just shut up. *smile*

My profession is web designer/developer and trainer, mostly working with Adobe tools and Microsoft asp.net (don’t throw tomatoes at me, please) I work at a Microsoft shop so PHP isn’t really an option for me. I’ve done Networking using UNIX so I’m not a total Microsoft loser. LOL

Anyway, thanks for the opportunity to interact and get to know everyone here.

Joy