Fighting Povety in America

Here, Michael Tanner reports a startling fact:

In total, the United States spends nearly $1 trillion every year to fight poverty. That amounts to $20,610 for every poor person in America, or $61,830 per poor family of three.

Don't you suppose that just about any poor family of three would be tickled silly to have $61,830 in income per year?  Why don't we just give the poor the money and dispense with the 126 federal welfare programs that currently require bureaucrats to administer?