Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) announced Thursday that he will propose legislation that would cut taxes for Detroit and other areas of the country that are in dire financial straits, pitching the idea as an alternative to bureaucratic government stimulus programs…

“What we hope to do is create taxes so low that you essentially are able to bail yourselves out, by having more money accumulate in the area over time,” Paul said.

The taxes that would be reduced include the income tax, the corporate tax, payroll taxes and the capital gains tax. The bill would also lower the economic threshold for immigrants who want to start businesses in these areas to $50,000.

The legislation would apply to all areas of the country with an unemployment rate that is at least 50 percent greater than the national average.

“[Jack] Kemp loved figuring out ways to empower people — real people, regardless of race or family background,” Paul will say in his speech on Friday, according to excerpts. “He called his plan a ‘Conservative war on poverty.’ It’s time we revisit Jack Kemp’s plan and expand on it.”

While Kemp’s ideas were celebrated on the right, they faced deep skepticism elsewhere, as will Paul’s proposal.

Critics of proposals like Paul’s argue they are nothing more than a dramatic tax cut for big businesses that will do little to help lower-income Americans.

“Enterprise zones are not especially effective at increasing overall economic activity or raising incomes for the poor,” said Len Burman, director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and a former Clinton administration official. “They just seem to move the locus of activity across the zone’s boundary — reducing activity outside the zone and increasing it inside.”

His speech, which came after a visit to a new African-American voter outreach center office opened by the Michigan Republican Party in Detroit, also touched on a variety of issues ranging from taxes to education to criminal justice to the 2016 presidential race…

“We need to be a more diverse party if we’re ever going to win again. We need people with tattoos, ponytails and earrings,” he said. “The Democratic Party is more diverse than we are. We lose all the big cities. We have to change or we won’t win nationally again.”…

Paul, a libertarian-leaning Republican from Kentucky, said Republicans have to do more than just show up.

“It’s about economic empowerment, education and school choice … and criminal justice,” he said. “It’s important that we talk about this, because I don’t think we’ve treated people fairly.”

“How are you supposed to make child support payments if you’ve been in prison, and the best job you can get is $9 an hour?” Sen. Rand Paul asked, wearing a suit and tie at the opening of a new GOP office on Livernois Avenue in Detroit.

Child support, prison and the war on drugs are not usual topics for the GOP senator, who had previously gained media attention for launching a filibuster against President Obama’a nominee to head the CIA because Paul questioned the administration’s use of drones…

“Today’s opening of this office is the beginning of a new Republican Party,” Paul said. “This is going to be a Republican Party that is in big cities and small cities, in the countryside, in the city. It’s going to be about bringing a message that is popular no matter where you’re from, whether you’re rich or poor, whether you’re black, white or brown.”