Since when is "progressive" a synonym for fiscal conservatism? My impression is that "progressivism" has more to do with things like unions, populism, more rather than less spending... in combination with certain social causes (education? women's lib? prohibition?). Someone who has a better handle on the history spanning that 19th-20th c. boundary should feel free to correct me :).

By contrast I think what rms10 is describing is closer to Libertarianism (though not whole-hog; see "social moderate") or old-school laissez-faire Liberalism.

The usage is hopelessly confused in America these days, where "liberal" and "leftist" are synonyms (they haven't always been, and in some elsewheres they still aren't). But these are my understanding of the terms.