Welfare - Do we really need it?

This "rant" is on welfare.  I guess maybe I don't understand the entire system, but it certainly seems unfair to me.  I have never been on welfare.  I have always worked, since I was 15.  And if something happened to my job, I went and got another one.  Maybe not my "dream" job, but a job, none the less.  I have flipped burgers at McDonalds, worked in offices, worked in retail department stores, and a few other things.I hear people say there are no jobs, but where I live, there is always a job at a factory or fast food place. 
I work 8+ hours a day, five days a week.  I don't take vacations to Florida.  I don't live in a fancy house.  I do clip coupons and buy generic brands a lot.  I stand in line at Wal-mart, sorting my coupons and nearly every time, I notice someone ahead of me buying name brand products and expensive cuts of meat (compared to my hot dogs and chicken), and Bam! they whip out the food stamp card.  Unbelievable.  Where I work is right next door to a smoker outlet store.  I watch people drive in and out all day and they come out carrying sacks of cigarettes - hundreds of dollars worth.  Their cars are duct taped together, and they are also the people I see buying the name brand products at the store.  If you have no job and no money and have to be on government assistance, I feel you should only be given necessities until you get back on your feet.
The problem is, most people I know of who are on welfare don't want to get back on their feet.  If they did, I would feel differently.  Where I work, we had a guy that worked part time and he didn't want to work too many hours because it would cut into his food stamp allotment.  And he knew every charitable organization within 70 miles and when they gave free food away.  They would spend who knows what in gas driving to all these places to get free stuff.  And they would do things like pick up walnuts or aluminum cans and sell.  They probably spent more time trying to not work than if they just had a job. 
I can't afford health insurance.  But if you don't work, you get it free.  I have people call our business and say things like, "Ya'll aren't hiring, are you?" Does that sound like someone who wants a job?  I have also known people who are out of work, but waiting for that supervisory position, so they stay out of work, instead of taking a lesser job until something better comes along.
And, I'm sorry, but unless you are mentally retarded or disabled, you can work.  Everyone can do something.  Maybe you can babysit. You may be a good cook.  I feel like if you receive a check from the government, from MY hard-earned tax dollars, you need a job.  Maybe you can plant flowers at the local court house, or paint the outside of the jail.  I know it would be a huge overhaul, but the rule should be, if you need assistance, you will get it, but you will work for it.  AND YOU WILL BE DRUG AND ALCOHOL FREE.  If you can't pay rent or buy food, you don't need a beer.  Welfare should be there for those who have had some extenuating circumstance and have fallen on hard times.  It should be provided as a boost until you get back in the groove of things.  I see families that breed future generations knowing all the loopholes and how to work the system and get money without working.  What a shame.  Used to be that having to go on public assistance was an embarrassment and you didn't want anyone to know.  Now it's like a badge.  And sadly, with the way things seem to work, I have wondered if I wouldn't come out with more if I didn't work and qualified for all the free stuff. 
This was not what welfare was intended to be. It's like a whirlpool circling and circling with no end in sight.