Nancy Pelosi says that the payroll tax cuts should not be “endless” but should be extended one more year in an “economy of this kind.”  We will see if she is still singing that tune next year, an election year. 

Princess Pelosi also says that extending unemployment benefits would add “600,000 jobs to our economy.”  She explains that unemployment benefits creates a “safety net” for our economy because it “injects demand into the economy -- creating jobs.”  If that’s the case, then shouldn’t we have created millions of jobs this year alone?  The fact is that the money for unemployment benefits comes from somewhere: either we get it from taxes or we borrow it.  This is money that could have otherwise been productive in our economy or money that we didn’t have and now we have to pay back (with interest) sometime in the future.  Hence why Nancy Pelosi’s theory is flawed.  We can’t create jobs by simply shifting around the wealth.  It’s one thing to help those who are having a tough time in a tough economy .. I recognize that things are tough right now.  But let’s not try and paint this as some economic magic bean stalk that will grow us to prosperity.