Spirit of the season, I guess. "Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?" Then again, the last time the country had a really serious problem with the l

Spirit of the season, I guess. "Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?" Then again, the last time the country had a really serious problem with the long-term unemployed, (a lot more severe than what we have now) the government did put a lot of them to work --- not as a punitive measure, but by giving them jobs in FDR's Works Progress Administration. Which is exactly the sort of "bleeding heart liberal" government assistance that can't possibly get through Congress right now. Long-term unemployed doesn't necessarily mean homeless, but it does include most of them --- including many people with serviceable skills and habits, who used to hold down good jobs, but just got a bad break.