The best way to help the poor would be to cut off every bit of assistance which is currently available. The poor would suddenly find ways to be “not poor”.
I find myself in this discussion every time I go home and visit with my sis, the social worker.
You would be astounded as to what kind of excuses the system will make for "poor people".
Somehow, it's never their fault. It isn't that they made a bad decision...or two...or three. It always devolves into an attack "on the rich".
Somehow, the fact that there are poor people is always the fault of the rich.
Which defines a truism: Liberals are not fundamentally "for the poor". Instead, they are "against the rich".
Liberalism is all about punishing the rich. To which end, I have yet to determine...