CNN's Blitzer, Keilar don't challenge latest GOP claim that spending bills amount to "$24 billion a day, a billion dollars an hour"

During the March 11 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, host Wolf Blitzer did not challenge the claim by Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) that the cost of the omnibus appropriations bill and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act "amounts to $24 billion a day, a billion dollars an hour." The calculation is based on dividing the cost of the two bills over 50 days; but as Time's Michael Scherer noted, "[t]he omnibus is a spending bill to run the government over the course of an entire year. ... The stimulus will be paid out over several years, with most of the money going out the door over the next 18 months."

In a March 11 Politico article, chief political correspondent Mike Allen noted that "[t]he math" behind a similar claim by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was "50 days times 24 hours equals 1,200 hours. 1,200 times 1 billion equals 1.2 trillion (a thousand billions is a trillion)." Scherer wrote:

It's true that if you add the stimulus and the omnibus you get about $1.2 trillion. But that money will not be spent in 50 days. The omnibus is a spending bill to run the government over the course of an entire year. (It should have passed last fall, but was delayed for the presidential election and because of partisan infighting.) The stimulus will be paid out over several years, with most of the money going out the door over the next 18 months. So no one is spending a billion dollars an hour. Consider this comparison: If over the course of a one hour board meeting, the head of Mattel decided to produce 1 million new Barbie dolls over the coming year, no one would say that Mattel is making 1 million Barbie dolls an hour. They would say Mattel is making 1 million Barbie dolls a year.

Later in the show, congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar uncritically aired a clip of McConnell stating, "In just 50 days, Congress has voted to spend about $1.2 trillion between the stimulus and the omnibus. To put that in perspective, that's about $24 billion a day."

From the March 11 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:

CANTOR: Well, we in the House, I think, ought to be adopting a moratorium right now to clean up the process. Then we can go about spending the taxpayer dollars in a much more meritorious, much more efficient way. But the system is so broken at this point. We need to take a step back, take a deep breath, do what families and small businesses are doing across this country -- tighten the belt and understand that any expenditure has to be done right.

BLITZER: Because -- listen to Congressman Peter King, Republican of New York. I spoke to him the other day. He strongly defends earmarks. Listen to this.

KING [video clip]: I believe that responsible earmarks are an absolutely essential part of my job as a member of Congress. Because if I don't earmark for my district, some faceless bureaucrat in the administration -- and a Democratic administration -- is going to be deciding how money is spent in the Third Congressional District.

BLITZER: What do you say to that?

CANTOR: Listen, we are in extraordinary times right now. You know, the amount of spending in Washington is overwhelming. Between the stimulus bill and the spending bill that just passed the Senate yesterday, it's 1.2 trillion. Wolf, that amounts to $24 billion a day, a billion dollars an hour. That is coupled with the severity of the economic situation. We've got to take extraordinary measures right now. The system is broken. Let's say --

BLITZER: Because Congressman King and others -- Democrats and Republicans -- say the legislative branch of government is equal to the executive branch, and if the legislative branch doesn't direct money to certain projects, some faceless bureaucrat at the Department of Transportation or elsewhere in the executive branch is going to do that. Do you have a problem, and do you think your constituents in your district would have a problem if they made those decisions as opposed to you?

[...]

BLITZER: Look at this eye-popping number right now: $764 and a half billion. That's how much the deficit has grown to, and it's a record.

The Treasury Department says the federal budget deficit grew almost $193 billion last month alone. That was a record as well. With unprecedented numbers like these, what are lawmakers saying about the notion of yet another economic stimulus plan? Our congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar is standing by with more on this part of the story.

Brianna, what's going on?

KEILAR: Wolf, some rank-and-file Democrats think it's a good idea, but Democratic leadership aides say it's too soon to talk about another stimulus.

[begin video clip]

KEILAR: House Democratic leadership aides deny work is already under way on another economic stimulus package less than a month after Congress threw the economy a $787 billion lifeline.

The pushback comes back after Congressman David Obey, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, told CNN Tuesday night he's already instructed his staff to start drafting a proposal for another stimulus plan. A Democratic leadership aide tells CNN Obey got ahead of himself.

But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday more stimulus money might be needed.

PELOSI: We have to keep the door open to see how this goes.

KEILAR: Republicans jumped on the talk of another expensive bill, accusing Democrats of out-of-control government spending.

McCONNELL: In just 50 days, Congress has voted to spend about $1.2 trillion between the stimulus and the omnibus. To put that in perspective, that's about $24 billion a day.

KEILAR: While Democratic leaders sought to tamp down suggestions another stimulus is on the horizon, some rank-and-file House Democrats, like Pennsylvania moderate Joe Sestak, are ready to support one.