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Pushing for more billions in deficit spending to extend jobless benefits to a record 99 weeks, or nearly two years, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently declared that more red ink and more dependency on government checks for longer stretches were the best ways to stimulate the U.S. economy and create jobs.

"This is one of the best stimuluses to our economy," she asserted regarding unemployment legislation, which the House and Senate passed and the president signed last week. "It creates jobs faster than almost any other initiative."