What do you do with 5 million bums?

The current estimate of  folks who have run through their unemployment and remain without jobs and income is floating around the 5 million mark here in the good ol' USA, leaving me to wonder what exactly you do with that many rampaging hobos on the loose. To put that number in perspective, we could fill the Lincoln Financial field 73 times. Including the cheap seats.

Another way of looking at it is, there are twice as many tramps as there are people behind bars in America, and that number is growing monthly at an alarming pace. How alarming? In July, the government reported the total number of unemployed at 14.6 million - which is about the same number of people out of work during the Great Depression. This number does not include 8.5 million working part-time because full-time work is not available, nor the 2.6 million "marginally attached to the labor force," who have simply given up looking for work. That brings the government number up to 24.7 million potential panhandlers and Hooverville residents in total.

For those playing at home, that's approaching twice the number of folks down on their heels during the Great Depression, and a number that continues to grow monthly.

The insidious angle to this is, as the final door closes behind these people, it closes with finality. Rental agreements require good credit ratings, security deposits and first-and-last month's rent, standards and ready cash that the long-term bum isn't going to be able to meet, even if they can secure some kind of wage after falling off the grid. Once they're out on the street, they're going to be staying there for a while.