Ben Carson

Free Press guest writer

As I travel around the country, one question I’m consistently asked is how a Carson administration would stimulate the economy so that we can inject new revenue into our cities?

Rather than point out what the current administration hasn’t accomplished in this area, it’s more important to offer real solutions. If we don’t act now to fix our economy, our nation could fall far behind. China has 1.4 billion people and India has 1 billion and it’s so critical that we develop all of our people so that they’re participating in and finding a way to thrive in this economy.

Our infrastructure is collapsing. This is starting to create serious issues for the American people. If we don’t act soon, we’re going to be faced with health and education problems that could take years to solve. We see this playing out today in Flint, which has suffered from the shrinkage of the auto industry and loss of middle-class jobs causing city officials to cut corners in delivering basic services and putting citizens in harm’s way. In the Flint water crisis there is a lot of blame to go around, and we the people deserve better than the finger-pointing and lack of accountability that we witnessed when this matter came to light.

But if we look closer at the core of the problem, it’s clear we need to address the loss of revenue in these areas from the lack of good paying, middle-class jobs that pushes many families into poverty and leads to a shrinking tax base.

What I have proposed is creation of new 21st Century Enterprise Zones. What makes my version of this idea different from its previous implementation is the source of capital funding. As president, I would enact a six-month tax hiatus whereby U.S. corporations with profits parked overseas would be given the opportunity to bring it back to the U.S. at no penalty.

This revenue has now reached $2.1 trillion because the U.S. has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the developed world.

Bloomberg reports that in 2014 alone eight of the largest U.S. companies added a combined $69 billion to their offshore profits. The list reads like a who’s who of American companies, from Microsoft, Apple and Google, to GE, Merck and Cisco Systems.

I would make this one of my first acts as president but I would do so with the stipulation that 10% of those funds be used in areas like Flint and many other American cities to create jobs for people who are unemployed or on public assistance. My plan could amount to the largest stimulus since the New Deal and Franklin D. Roosevelt and the best part is that it wouldn’t cost taxpayers a single dime.

Imagine the new public, private, academic and government partnerships that could emerge and the innovative ways we could re-imagine our cities and towns. Consider that we could begin to improve all of our schools when taxpayers are engaged in the process.

But what I believe makes my proposal most beneficial to the American people is that it starts to encourage these companies to think again about investing in the people around us. This common-sense solution is just one way in which I plan to bring new hope to the American people and jump-start our economy, so we can leave a better future for the next generation.

Dr. Ben Carson is seeking the nomination to be the Republican candidate for president of the U.S.