I only know a few "modern day conservatives" that could be referred to as Classical Liberals, one being Ron Paul. Who are the "modern Liberals" that refer to themselves as Liberals?
Just about everybody left of center on USMB for starters.
Really? What about your conservative politicians, how many of them refer to themselves as Liberals, classical or otherwise?
Not all politicians who call themselves conservatives actually are, or at least they are not conservative on all issues. 'Classical liberal' is a term that is gradually re-entering the sociopolitical vernacular, mostly because of the rise of groups like the Tax Protest groups, 9/12ers, Tea Partiers, and yes some Ron Paul followers who understand the concept. Classical Liberal, its roots grounded im the basic concepts given us by our Founders, is also pretty much interchangeable with the basic concept of 'libertarianism' (small 'L'.)
While in no way rejecting the principles of charity, the Classical Liberals of the late 18th Century, of which the Founders all were, completely rejected a concept of the welfare state as they intended absolutely no basis for the federal government to use the people's money to benefit any individual, entity, group, demographic, or special interest. A reading of their commentary on that shows that they were extremely wise in judgment of how corrupting that would be to both those in government and to the beneficiaries of any such benevolence.
And now, since we have modern day liberals who ignore the counsel of the founders, we have the sad legacy of the welfare state that for every good thing we can point to, the negatives are fourfold.