Kentucky Senator Rand Paul says Detroit needs “freedom from government” to flourish again economically—and told the Detroit Economic Club Friday he has a plan to make that happen.
Paul is proposing legislation that would create “economic freedom zones” in high-unemployment areas like Detroit.
He says those areas would work like “enterprise zones on steroids,” mostly by lowering taxes.
Paul calls Detroit’s current economic problems the result of a “corrupt marriage” between “Big Government, Big Labor, and Big Business,” and says the country needs to shift its focus away from bailout- or stimulus-driven economic growth policies.
“What we need is a new vision for prosperity, one that won’t leave whole communities behind,” Paul says.
“The answer to poverty and unemployment is not another government stimulus. It’s simply leaving more money in the hands of those who earned it.”
Paul says he’ll introduce legislation to create these “freedom zones” in the Senate next week.
Paul also helped open a new Michigan GOP African-American outreach office in northwest Detroit Friday, saying Republicans must broaden their demographic reach to succeed in future elections.
State Democrats responded in a statement that if Republicans want to broaden their appeal, they need to re-think their policies.
