Not Getting It

I was reading an article on how government safety net programs are at all time highs. Besides being alarmed at the numbers - two things jumped out at me:

1. The title on the article was Record number in government anti-poverty programs. Something in my gut is bothered by calling Medicaid, Welfare, Food Stamps and Unemployment anti-poverty programs. It is hard for me to explain but it just bothers me.

2. This paragraph is a microcosm of why the Democrats will lose in November:

Conservatives fear expanded safety-net programs won't contract after the economy recovers. "They're much harder to unwind in the long term," says Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.

If the USA Today and other MSM outlets cannot tell the difference between a Conservative and a Libertarian - then what legitimacy do they have in any political analysis?

I know this is a sweeping generalization but to many like me it seems the hippy generation has gone from "get the government off our backs man" to "the government is the answer for everything man." Stinking hippies.