exactly... people like to make Friedman into some sort of ideologue, but he was quite reasonable and most importantly highly creative in his insights about economic policy.

I recommend reading Capitalism and Freedom for a taste of his creativity.

My understanding of Friedman's position was that the negative income tax was a politically viable (if unlikely) system that would be an improvement (more freedom, less socialism) over the social programs we currently have. Not that he thought the negative income tax was the "ideal".