The Democratic Freedom Caucus

The Democratic Freedom Caucus (DFC) is a caucus within the United States Democratic Party. It was formedin 1996 by  Andrew Spark, Hanno Beck, and Mike O’Mara, (currently the DFC state chair for Pennsylvania, regional representative for Pennsylvania and Delaware, and National Committee member). Paul Gagnon, (currently the state chair for Virginia and National Committee member), and two others joined shortly thereafter. The current National Director is Brooks Nelson, who is also the state chair of Florida and regional representative for that state along with Alabama and Mississippi. 

According to its official website, The DFC is

• “…a progressive, pro-freedom caucus, which promotes the values that the Democratic Party was founded upon: individual liberty, constitutional democracy, and social responsibility.”

DFC members/participants could be described variously, but not necessarily exhaustively, as “Freedom Democrats”, “Jeffersonian Democrats”, “Lockean Democrats”, “Georgist Democrats”, or “Libertarian Democrats”.

Principles & Platform

The four basic principles of the Democratic Freedom Caucus are personal liberty, economic liberty, limited government, and social responsibility.

According to the DFC platform, “personal liberty” refers to “equal freedom”, whereby the government should not favor one group over another. Freedom democrats support the rights to free speech, personal beliefs, lifestyle, privacy, and personal medical and food decisions. They also support reproductive rights and the right to gun ownership, the latter of which should only be restricted “when there are compelling and demonstrably effective reasons of public safety”. The DFC also opposes the military draft, considering a form of involuntary servitude.

The DFC supports a tax shift towards natural resources and the spatial-location value of land and a shift away from all other taxes on human activity and the products thereof, including wages, sales, capital, and buildings & improvements to land. These other taxes are considered “unjust” and having the effect of lowering the incentive to be productive.

The DFC also opposes corporate welfare, supports “free trade with free countries”, and advocates the protection of workers, consumers, and the environment.

It is also the position of the DFC that individual liberty can only be upheld through individual and government responsibility, the latter of which requires a limited, constitutional democracy with incentives to be as efficient as possible.  Limited government also includes the support of jury nullification, the opposition of jury stacking, and a military that acts to defend the United States and not as a “world policeman”.