Pelosi: Unemployment Checks Fastest Way to Create Jobs

Unemployment benefits are creating jobs faster than practically any other program, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday.

Talking to reporters, the House speaker was defending a jobless benefits extension against those who say it gives recipients little incentive to work. By her reasoning, those checks are helping give somebody a job.

"It injects demand into the economy," Pelosi said, arguing that when families have money to spend it keeps the economy churning. "It creates jobs faster than almost any other initiative you can name." Pelosi said the aid has the "double benefit" of helping those who lost their jobs and acting as a "job creator" on the side. "It's impossible to think of a situation where we would have a country that would say we're not going to have unemployment benefits," Pelosi said.