Are you on any type of welfare?

[King]

I was on unemployment insurance awhile ago.
I took out a small student loan which I already paid back.
I was a Medicaid kid in my early youth.

Also, my father served in Vietnam, and I'll assume I'll eventually inherit the home he bought with the GI Bill.

[King]

The key is the connection to an individual in need. Employment by the government is not welfare since it is money in exchange for work. Government services available to the public at large would not be welfare either.

In higher ed an academic scholarship to a state university would not count, but a need-based scholarship would count.

Tax policy is designed to favor or disfavor certain types of economic activity, and are not really about money for those in need. An exception would be the earned income tax credit or disability-based exemptions which could meet the definition.

But aren't all of these things needs to the person that receives him?

I'm pretty sure if dead0man suddenly had to pay taxes on his mortgage, he'd be dire in need.