Michael Allan Leach
Contributor
Bow Tie Revolution
I was raised in Florida, and volunteered for active duty in the U.S. Air Force from 1989-1991. I was recalled to active duty for one year after September 11, 2001, and deployed with the Air Force to the Middle East for Operation Enduring Freedom.
Additionally, I spent time with the Coalition Provisional Authority in the Republic of Iraq in 2004.
Having spent the majority of the 1990s as a law enforcement officer, I am now active in the conservative movement in both thought and practice. When asked, I describe myself as a Jeffersonian/Reaganite; I hold to the core philosophy of limited government, free market solutions to governmental problems, and in what Adam Smith called the “invisible hand” of a natural, price driven economy, keeping taxes low, a strong military, and a muscular foreign policy–a neo-Wilsonianism projection of American power.
President Ronald Reagan once said that “government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem.” This statement is fundamentally true to its core.
Finally, I believe the Declaration of Independence set the foundation of our nation that all men were created and endowed by God Himself with certain unalienable Rights; also, the Constitution of the United States should be interpreted with an originalist intent, and judges should heed the same philosophy and not create out of whole cloth laws that clearly are not in the Constitution.
I hold a B.S. from Florida State University and a M.A. from Georgetown University. I am a graduate of the sixty-day resident public affairs leadership course at the Defense Information School (DINFOS) at Fort Meade, Md. Additionally, I am a commissioned officer in the United States Navy Reserve. I live in the Washington, D.C. region with my wife, Jill, and our two sons, Truman Winfield and Thatcher Reagan.
DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed here are my own, and they do not reflect the views or positions of the U.S. Navy Reserve.
Karen M. Kirksey
Contributor
Bowtie Revolution
Let me state right from the start that I am a Reagan conservative. It was because of President Ronald Reagan’s common sense conservative principals that I am a Republican and a conservative to this day.
I grew up in Indiana in a very loving family. My mother, father, siblings and I discussed politics every night at the dinner table. While we didn’t always agree, my parents always encouraged us to express ourselves and defend our beliefs. My love of politics was nurtured at our family’s dining room table.
Prior to entering politics, I worked as a licensed stockbroker for a number of years.
I currently live in the greater Washington, D.C. area with my husband, J. Wesley Smith.
In my spare time I enjoy traveling with my husband, live music, golfing, reading, camping and spending time with good friends.
