[DJ MacWoW]

Unfortunately, there are many people scamming the system and there is little interest from the bureaucrats running these programs to screen for the cheaters.

Welfare was never about helping people. It's about enslaving them to get their vote.

Madison was very clear on government "charity":

Annals of Congress, House of Representatives, 3rd Congress, 1st Session, page 170 (1794-01-10)
The Annals summarize speeches in the third person, with the actual text of Madison’s quote as follows: “Mr. Madison wished to relieve the sufferers, but was afraid of establishing a dangerous precedent, which might hereafter be perverted to the countenance of purposes very different from those of charity. He acknowledged, for his own part, that he could not undertake to lay his finger on that article in the Federal Constitution which granted a right of Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.”

[dhs12345]

Yup.

It appears that the attitude changed in the 60s. Prior to the 60s, accepting welfare was considered bad and only an absolute necessity. Able bodied people were expected to work and there was an effort to find them work. A person who wanted to work but couldn’t find work was respected.