Paul shares vision to prop up Detroit

Saturday, December 7, 2013

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, a potential presidential candidate who has said a bailout of Detroit would occur “over my dead body,” told a business crowd there Friday that cutting taxes and attracting immigrants would turn the city’s fortunes.

The 50-year-old Kentucky Republican wants federal legislation to create “economic freedom zones” in distressed cities such as Detroit, which has filed the largest U.S. municipal bankruptcy. He saidhe would cut income taxes to a flat 5 percent in areas of the U.S. with unemployment more than 1.5 times higher than the national average. He would cut payroll taxes and eliminate capital-gains taxes.

“Detroit’s future will not come from Washington,” Paul said. “The magic of Motown is here in the city. It’s not in some central planner’s notebook. What Detroit needs to thrive is not Washington’s domineering hand but freedom from big government’s mastery.”

Front Section, Pages 2 on 12/07/2013