Fox News' Cameron falsely claimed that “more than half of the money” in stimulus bill is “reserved for at least two years from now”

Written by Nathan Tabak

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Fox News' Carl Cameron falsely claimed of the economic recovery bills: “In both the House and Senate packages, more than half of the money is reserved for at least two years from now, and Republicans argue that that's simply not good enough.” In fact, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that about 64 percent of the House version of the recovery bill would be paid out within 19 months, and about 86 percent by the end of fiscal year 2011.

During the January 27 broadcast of Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier, Fox News chief political correspondent Carl Cameron, discussing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, falsely claimed: “In both the House and Senate packages, more than half of the money is reserved for at least two years from now, and Republicans argue that that's simply not good enough.” In fact, including both outlays and tax cuts, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that about 64 percent of H.R. 1 would be paid out within 19 months, and about 86 percent by the end of fiscal year 2011.

According to the CBO cost estimate:

Combining the spending and revenue effects of H.R. 1, CBO estimates that enacting the bill would increase federal budget deficits by $169 billion over the remaining months of fiscal year 2009, by $356 billion in 2010, by $174 billion in 2011, and by $816 billion over the 2009-2019 period.

[...]

CBO and JCT [Joint Committee on Taxation] estimate that enacting H.R. 1 would increase budget deficits by $526 billion over the 2009-2010 period (about 19 months) and by a total of $816 billion over the 2009-2019 period.

Therefore, according to the CBO, $526 billion of the $816 billion stimulus plan would take effect in the next 19 months, meaning that 64.4 percent of the plan's total cost will take effect during that timeframe. Likewise, $699 billion ($169 billion for fiscal year 2009 plus $356 billion for fiscal year 2010 plus $174 billion for fiscal year 2011), or 85.7 percent of the bill's $816 billion cost, would take effect by the end of fiscal year 2011.

From the January 27 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier:

BAIER: Chief political correspondent Carl Cameron is live on Capitol Hill, where he has been covering the back-and-forth over this economic stimulus package.

Carl, good evening. The president met today with Republicans there, but -- but what about the Democrats? Are they giving him what he's asked for in this bill?

CAMERON: Well, if you look at the sorts of things that the president said that he really wanted in the stimulus package, the answer, really, frankly, is no. He said he wanted 40 percent of the overall total to go to tax relief. Both in the House and in the Senate Democratic versions, the tax relief doesn't even clear a third.

The president also said that he wanted about 75 percent of the aggregate stimulus package to be put out in 18 months, and that's not the case, either. In both the House and Senate packages, more than half of the money is reserved for at least two years from now, and Republicans argue that that's simply not good enough. So, no, the Democrats have not delivered what Barack Obama has asked for, and his OMB director, Peter Orszag, today told Democratic leaders the president is expecting those goals to be met.

BAIER: You know, we heard, Carl, the Republicans talking up there on the Hill in front of the microphones; a lot of times we hear from Republicans behind closed doors what really happened. How did they respond once the president left the Capitol?