Here are their descriptions (primarily from Wiki), in case anyone is curious:
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The
Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is the single largest partisan caucus in the United States House of Representatives, and works together to advance progressive issues and causes.
The CPC was founded in 1991 by the independent Congressman Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who remains a member as Senator. It represents about a third of the House Democratic Caucus (with 77 members). Of the twenty standing committees of the House, eleven are chaired by members of the CPC.
According to their
website, the CPC advocates "universal access to affordable, high quality healthcare," fair trade agreements, living wage laws, the right of all workers to organize into labor unions and engage in strike actions and collective bargaining, the abolition of significant portions of the USA PATRIOT Act, the legalization of gay marriage, strict campaign finance reform laws, a complete pullout from the war in Iraq, a crackdown on free trade and corporate welfare, an increase in income tax on the wealthy, tax cuts for the poor, and an increase in social welfare spending by the federal government.
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Blue Dog Democrats are a group of 51 moderate and conservative Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives. The Blue Dogs promote, among other things, fiscal conservatism and accountability. Many members come from conservative districts, where liberal Democrats comprise a decided minority of the general population. In 2006, Blue Dog candidates such as Heath Shuler and Brad Ellsworth were elected in conservative-leaning districts, ending years of Republican dominance in these districts. In 2008, the Blue Dog's prominence as a voting block was highlighted by their support for a FISA compromise that provided immunity to large telecom companies who had been accused of assisting the government in capturing communication involving US citizens.
Democrats who identify with the Blue Dogs tend to be conservatives. Reflecting the group's Southern roots, many are strong supporters of gun rights and receive high ratings from the National Rifle Association, some have pro-life voting records, and some get high ratings from immigration reduction groups. As a caucus, however, the group has never agreed on or taken a position on these issues, and many members favor more socially liberal positions.
On economic issues, Blue Dogs tend to be pro-business and favor limiting public welfare spending, arguing instead for "individual responsibility". They have supported welfare reform, for example, as well as the Republican-backed Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2005. However, they have differing positions on trade issues, including some supporters of labor unions, protectionism, and other populist measures.
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The
New Democrats are an ideologically centrist faction within the Democratic Party that emerged after the victory of Republican George H. W. Bush in the 1988 presidential election. They are identified with more moderate social/cultural positions and neo-liberal fiscal values. They are represented by organizations such as the
Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), the
New Democrat Network, and the Senate and House New Democrat Coalitions.
New Democrats were more open to deregulation than the previous Democratic leadership had been. This was especially evident in the large scale deregulation of agriculture and the telecommunications industries. The new democrats and allies on the DLC were responsible for the ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
An important part of New Democrat ideas is focused on improving the economy. During the administration of Bill Clinton, New Democrats were responsible for passing the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. It raised taxes on the wealthiest 1.2% of taxpayers, while cutting taxes on 15 million low-income families and making tax cuts available to 90 percent of small businesses. Additionally, it mandated that the budget be balanced over a number of years, through the implementation of spending restraints. This helped oversee the longest peace-time economic expansion in USA history. Overall, the top marginal tax rate was raised from 31% to 40% under the Clinton administration.
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The
Democratic Freedom Caucus (DFC for short) is an organization of Democrats promoting social justice, individual liberty, constitutional democracy, and fiscal responsibility. Although its views have been described as "libertarian," the organization prefers to use the terms "classical liberal,", "Freedom Democrat" or "Jeffersonian Democrat" in an attempt to distinguish itself from the more conservative and elements within such organizations as the Cato Institute, Libertarian Party, etc.
The
Caucus platform has four sections: personal liberty, economic liberty, limited government, and social responsibility. The reforms generally favor smaller government, limited to several basic functions - for example, the DFC notes that economic freedom requires such valid government functions as protecting workers and consumers from business fraud and pollution.
The DFC's view of economic freedom is also distinguished from more conservative-leaning organizations, in that the DFC, in the tradition of Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, John Locke, John Stuart Mill, as well as other prominent freedom advocates, and several Nobel Prize economists, makes the distinction between two fundamentally different kinds of property: 1) property produced by human effort, such as machinery, buildings, etc., versus 2) land and natural resources, which were not produced by any person.
As economist Mason Gaffney and others have shown, if that distinction is not made by means of special policies regarding land and natural resources, it results in major economic distortions.
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