Compassionate conservative is an expression, popularized by President George W. Bush, that supports bigger government supposedly to help alleviate societal ills. Often, of course, government spending exacerbates problems, as the late Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan pointed out in the 1960s.
A better term is "charitable conservative," which emphasizes how genuine charity is the best solution for many societal problems.
Compassionate conservatism is a sector of conservatism which seeks to support conservative values, such as freedom of religion. the basic compassion[1][2] supported by religion, and encouragement of labor, while doing so in a manner that displays compassion for such deserving groups as the needy.[3] American President George W. Bush supported compassionate conservatism and may have popularized the term.[4] It can refer to all the goodness that has been done by "true" conservative intellectuals and businessmen before George W. Bush injected the movement into Republican politics.[5]