Aleen1, I agree, we need to be makir tov to the USA for all the good that its protection, for the good that it stands for and for allowing Yiden the opportunity to observe the Torah.
The Jewish community should especially keep this in mind when government forms are submitted and in our business dealings. What is the message to our government and the citizens we interact with everyday when our prisons have frum populations requiring glatt kosher, minyanim, daf yomi?
However, that said, there is also no kiddush hashem to accept all the government handouts you mention, as a regular source of income. This is not what Hashem has in mind when we ask for osher v’chovod. With Hashem’s assurances, frum families and bnei torah live(d), survive(d) and stay(ed) afloat with dignity without these programs – poseach es yadecha u’masbia…