New Democrats

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In U.S. politics, the New Democrats are an organized faction within the Democratic Party that emerged in the 1980s and came to prominence after the 1988 presidential election. The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) is their central institution. They are identified with centrist social/cultural positions and neo-liberal fiscal values.[1][2] Current New Democrat politicians belong to the DLC, as well as in some cases, The House New Democrat Coalition and the The New Democrat Network.[3][4][5]

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After the severe electoral losses to Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, a group of prominent Democrats began to believe that their party was both out of touch with the current political situation and in need of a radical shift in both economic policy and on the ideas of governance.[6][7]

The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) was founded in 1985 by prominent New Democrat Al From as well as by several emerging politicians and strategists.[8] The term New Democrat was used to refer the emerging organisation of Democrats who saw that a Third Way was needed to meet the electoral successes of Reaganism.[9][10]

Bill Clinton was the single Democratic politician of the 1990s most identified with the New Democrats; his promise of welfare reform in the 1992 presidential campaign, and its subsequent enactment, epitomized the New Democrat position, as were his 1992 promise of a middle-class tax cut and his 1993 expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit for the working poor.[11] New Democrat and Third Way successes under Clinton, and the writings of Anthony Giddens, are often regarded to have inspired Tony Blair in the United Kingdom and his moderate policies, which became the New Labour party.[12]

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).[13]

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,[14] while cutting taxes on 15 million low-income families and making tax cuts available to 90 percent of small businesses.[15] 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.[16] Overall, the top marginal tax rate was raised from 31% to 40% under the Clinton administration.

Some of those identified as New Democrats have vied for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President such as, Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson, Senator Joe Biden.

Former Virginia Governor Mark Warner, also affiliated with the New Democrats, declined to run for the Presidency in 2008.[citation needed]

  1. ^ http://www.irc-online.org/content/3476
  2. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/30/us/politics/30dems.html |accessdate=2006-11-10
  3. ^ The DLC - current New Democrats
  4. ^ The House New Democrat Coaltion
  5. ^ The New Democrat Network
  6. ^ Wayne LeMieux, The Democrats' New Path, 2006, ISBN 978-1419638725
  7. ^ John F Harris, The Survivor:Bill Clinton in the White House, Random House, 2005, ISBN 978-0375508479
  8. ^ Al From, Founder of the DLC and New Democrats
  9. ^ Wayne LeMieux, The Democrats' New Path, 2006, ISBN 978-1419638725
  10. ^ John F Harris, The Survivor:Bill Clinton in the White House, Random House, 2005, ISBN 978-0375508479
  11. ^ John F Harris, The Survivor:Bill Clinton in the White House, Random House, 2005, ISBN 978-0375508479
  12. ^ Sidney Blumenthal The Clinton Wars, 2003, ISBN 0-374-12502-3
  13. ^ Livingston, C. Don, Kenneth A. Wink; "The Passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in the U.S. House of Representatives: Presidential Leadership or Presidential Luck?" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 27, 1997
  14. ^ 1994 State of the Union Address
  15. ^ Presidential Press Conference - 08/03/1993
  16. ^ April 2, 1999: The Longest Peacetime Expansion in History

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