Oh fucking hell. I've never read an article that so made me want to slap the author. For having blinders half on, and making me read a story that has a headline about one thing and then completely turns it into another thing.
If you feel that your amygdala has become inflamed, then don’t worry! This is a common response to reading polemics from people that you don’t agree with, since they unabashadly argue for things that you don’t like.
I suspect that either you didn't read down far enough, or you uncritically accepted the writer's "benefits program" language without thinking about what they're actually referring to.