[jQuery] why is this href firing???

[jQuery] why is this href firing???

hi there!
this plugin extends an input text with 2 links that increase or decrease it's value by 1.
unfortunately, due to my dumbness it is not working as I would expect.
When one clicks at one of the links, the link works normally as a link would (making the request to "").
Anybody could tell me what I am doing wrong - I am definitely suffering from jquery blindness here...
<font style="font-family: courier new,monospace;" size="1">(function($) {
    jQuery.fn.spinner = function() {
        var input = $(this);
        var makeButton = function(cssClass, text) {
            return $('<a href="" class="' + cssClass + '"><span>' + text + '</span></a>');
        };
        var spin = function(value) {
            var val = parseInt(input.val());
            var newValue = isNaN(val)
                ? 0
                : val;
            if (newValue + value > -1) {
                newValue += value;
            }
            input.val(newValue);
            return false;
        };
        input.wrap('<div class="spinner"/>');
        var spinDown = makeButton('spinDown', '-');
        input.before(spinDown);
        spinDown.click(function() {
            return spin(-1);
        });
        var spinUp = makeButton('spinUp', '+');
        input.after(spinUp);
        spinUp.click(function() {
            return spin(1);
        });
    };
})(jQuery);</font>
<font style="font-family: courier new,monospace;" size="1">
<input type="text" id="spinMe" name="xxx" value="0"/>
$('#spinMe').spinner();<br clear="all"></font>
--
Jan