yeshiva man (?) > If the American government would decide to suddenly not give any of these benefits to people who are learning in yeshiva or kollel, I would certainly think that is wicked discrimination.
Many of benefits you listed are intended to help people who are not able to work and also for those who study to be able to support themselves. So, you might or might not be within the law by using these funds for other purposes, but you are definitely not using them the way voters intended. So, as you describe this as “normal”, you need to rethink whether Torah approves of such crooked ways. It is well may be that perception of how one could use public assistance is skewed by the person’s environment. While many sub-cultures in US would not take public assistance unless they can’t find other work, there are also communities where using that assistance is normalized as part of life over several generations…
If these laws also provide benefits for people involved in religious/spiritual studies, please provide a reference, I’ll be happy to change my opinion.