tax cuts for wealthy people should never be offset by tax increases in other areas -- but that unemployment benefits need to be fully paid for by either spending cuts or tax increases.

There was a time when everyone took it for granted that unemployment insurance, which normally terminates after 26 weeks, would be extended in times of persistent joblessness. It was, most people agreed, the decent thing to do. But that was then. Today, American workers face the worst job market since the Great Depression, with five job seekers for every job opening, with the average spell of unemployment now at 35 weeks.