Fun Fact: Facebook Isn’t Always True

Don’t be a tool that falls under the viral effect

There shouldn’t be a need to say it, but since people keep posting without proper research here it is: just because it’s on Facebook doesn’t mean it’s true. This can be applied to a number of posts from the death of celebrities to the impeding doom of the planet. However, in this new era of Trump more and more rumors are spreading about the President-elect and his actions leading up to the inauguration. To clarify, some things may be based on fact but they are not true.

Reposting these half-truths does not make a person ignorant nor are they wrong for wanting to spread what they believe is pertinent information. It does however give their opposing side more credibility — to an extent.

One of the more recent posts going around starts off:

Just in case you missed it.
The federal week in review:

What follows is a list of actions allegedly taken by Trump, his incoming administration and the GOP. Here they are and here is what they are based on, if there is any truth to them at all.

1. Trump fires all Ambassadors and Special Envoys, ordering them out by inauguration day.

According to Snopes.com, there is some truth in this one. What many are calling unprecedented is not actually so, and it is common for politically appointed ambassadors to step down after a new administration takes office. This has happened many times in the past when a new president moves into the White House.

The New York Times originally reported the story with the headline, “In Break With Precedent, Obama Envoys Are Denied Extensions Past Inauguration Day.” What the article refers to as unprecedented is allowing certain extensions on a case-by-case basis, as reported by Snopes. Is the claim true? Sort of, but it’s not something to really get pissed about.

2. House brings back the Holman rule allowing them to reduce an individual civil service, SES positions, or political appointee’s salary to $1, effectively firing them by amendment to any piece of legislation. We now know why they wanted names and positions of people in Energy and State.

This one is true, but it is more complicated than simply being true or false. To understand this, one must understand the Holman rule. According to Congress.gov, the rule — adopted during the 44th Congress — allows any member of congress to propose an amendment to reduce any specific person or program’s salary to as low as $1.

Something to bare in mind is that Congress has the power of the purse, which allows the body to control funding of other groups, and thus has always had the power to reduce a persons salary. The main issue is the when involved. You can read the full text of the Holman rule here.

3. Senate schedules 6 simultaneous hearings on cabinet nominees and triple-books those hearings with Trump’s first press conference in months and an ACA budget vote, effectively preventing any concentrated coverage or protest.

False. Well, mostly. The schedule of hearings for some of Trump’s cabinet are done simultaneously, there are not six and they are not done to prevent concentrated coverage or protest.

The schedule, as reported by CNN, is as follows: Jeff Sessions (for attorney general) and John Kelly (for Sec. of Homeland Security) are scheduled to have hearings on Tuesday, Jan. 10 at 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., respectively. Hearings for Rex Tillerson (Secretary of State) will be held on January 12 in the morning and afternoon, along with Elaine Chao (Transportation Secratry) at 10:15 a.m., Mike Pompeo (Dir. of the CIA) and Betsy DaVos (Secretary of Education) at 10 am. Thursday, January 12 has James Mattis (Defense Secretary) at a currently undisclosed time, and Tom Price (Secretary of Health and Human Services) on January 18.

There is currently no scheduled hearings for Steven Mnuchin, treasury secretary, Andrew Puzder, labor secretary, Scott Pruitt, Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Mick Mulvaney, budget director, Ryan Zinke, interior secretary, Ben Carson, secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Rick Perry, energy secretary, Nikki Haley, UN ambassador.

A vote on the Affordable Care act, dubbed Obamacare, will be held sometime this week.

4. House GOP expressly forbids the Congressional Budget Office from reporting or tracking ANY costs related to the repeal of the ACA.

This one is referencing a tweet by Minnesota U.S. Representative Keith Ellison:

The most important thing to know is that each new Congress generally adopts governing rules they will follow during the term. Generally, Congress adopts the previous governing rules with certain amendments which take the form of House Resolutions. Although this one is primarily true, it is important to note that it only goes into effect if the ACA is overturned, which House Democrats have promised to prevent. You can look at this Congresses’ governing rulers here.

5. Trump continues to throw the intelligence community under the bus to protect Putin, despite the growing mountain of evidence that the Russians deliberately interfered in our election.

According to Time, Trump still won’t admit Russia interfered with the U.S. election. Nothing new here, so I guess you can mark this one under “true.”

6. Trump breaks a central campaign promise to make Mexico pay for the wall by asking Congress (in other words, us, the taxpayers) to pay for it.

Fact. Not much else to say there.

7. Trump threatens Toyota over a new plant that was never coming to the US nor will take jobs out of the US.

Here’s the tweet this bullet references:

As New York Mag reports, the proposed plant wasn’t intended for Baja — which already has its own plant — but in Apaseo el Grande. But the Corolla plant has already been in construction since November. So, yes this is true.

8. House passes the REINS act, giving them veto power over any rules enacted by any federal agency or department — for example, FDA or EPA bans a drug or pesticide, Congress can overrule based on lobbyists not science. Don’t like that endangered species designation, Congress kills it.

The REINS act “revises provisions relating to congressional review of agency rulemaking. A federal agency promulgating a rule must publish information about the rule in the Federal Register and include in its report to Congress and to the Government Accountability Office: (1) a classification of the rule as a major or non-major rule, and (2) a copy of the cost-benefit analysis of the rule that includes an analysis of any jobs added or lost.”

This is pretty much true which is a scary thought and something House Dems should actively work to prevent.

Obviously there is some truth in this particular post, but it is always key to do some research before spreading misinformation, after all that is what helped Trump get elected. Be cautious, stay informed, and always ask for a second source.