Paul has proposed policies that would specifically affect urban, minority communities. Along with charter schools, he’s proposed creating “economic freedom zones”—areas within a city where taxes are radically lowered to encourage business growth. Back in December, Paul traveled to Detroit to open Michigan’s GOP office there and to promote the idea of “freedom zones” in struggling cities.
Rep. Jack Kemp—the original compassionate conservative—first proposed such zones as a way to lift city dwellers out of poverty. Since then, President Obama has proposed a similar plan, rebranded as Promise Zones. Unfortunately, even Kemp’s former economist has said enterprise zones don’t work in practice, and other economists have challenged the idea that radically lowering taxes will spur economic activity and help the well-being of residents in that area…
But there’s a reason Kemp is not as well known for his effect on social policies as much as, say, Rep. John Lewis.
A 1993 New York Times Magazine story titled “How Jack Kemp Lost the War on Poverty” chronicled how Kemp and his cohort’s compassionate-conservative philosophy only took them so far. When pressed on their social policy agenda, they would stick to their narrow platform—enterprise zones, tax credits, and school vouchers. Sound familiar?
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