from: The Meals On Wheels Lie Keeps Rolling Along Editorial 4:30 PM ET Budget: Let's start with a basic fact. Contrary to news reports last week, President Trump is not eliminating funding for Meals on Wheels. He's not even cutting it. How do we know this? Meals on Wheels says so. A statement issued by Meals on Wheels America on Thursday notes that 35% of the revenues at the 5,000 or so local Meals on Wheels programs come via the Older Americans Act Nutrition Program. Trump's budget outline says nothing about this program whatsoever. What Trump's budget does propose is cutting is the corruption-prone Community Development Block Grant program, run out of Housing and Urban Development. Some state and local governments use some of that grant money, at their own discretion, to "augment funding for Meals on Wheels,"... ...misleading shorthand quickly turned into "Trump wants to kill Meals on Wheels." Time magazine... ...Trump's budget "would kill a program that feeds 2.4 million senior citizens." ... ...Others claimed — falsely — that Trump's budget director said Meals on Wheels wasn't worth funding because it didn't get results. The New York Times... ...Lawmakers Decry Trump's Cuts To Meals On Wheels"... ...the fake story had already taken hold in the popular press and on social media.... ...Meals on Wheels America explained, some Community Development Block Grant money does end up going to some of the local Meals on Wheels programs. But it's a tiny amount... ...In two days, the charity got more than $100,000 in donations — 50 times more than they'd normally receive. Clearly, individuals are ready...
It doesn't matter that it's fake. It's the established "truth" that everyone's going to run with. No way to correct it. The court of public opinion has already ruled, and it's the established reality. Just like Bernie Sander's public healthcare saves money but a news article saying it cost 7 trillion doomed it. No facts or correction ever took hold in the court of public opinion.
