Of all the protest signs swirling about on the streets and over the airwaves, one that sticks with me is “So Many Issues, So Little Cardboard.”

So why waste today’s cardboard yet again on State and Local Tax (SALT) deductions? Because it is Mike Lawler’s drumbeat, as we saw last night on the CNN Town Hall and today on Morning Joe. It is symptomatic of Lawler’s craven approach to politics, and the GOP’s lack of serious engagement on public policy.

Start with the fact that most people don’t know what SALT stands for. Not even most New York taxpayers, where we have been uniquely disadvantaged by Donald Trump’s $10K cap on SALT deductions. NY has the highest taxes, so capping our ability to deduct those taxes on our federal returns hits some of us harder.

So why does Lawler love this wonky tax issue? Because he can portray it as a bipartisan issue of fairness, and it plays to the home crowd — fighting for tax relief for every day New Yorkers. Don’t be fooled, though. Mike Lawler is fighting for the rich, not the “hard-working middle class” as he says. The higher cap he is promoting will primarily benefit the wealthy and blow an even bigger hole in the national deficit. As summarized by the Tax Policy Center:

Lawler talks about SALT relentlessly. Last night on CNN, while defending the GOP spending bill and threats to Medicaid, he quickly pivoted to SALT:

“This is not a Medicaid bill, by the way. This is primarily a tax bill, and what I am focused on, one of the biggest things I’m focused on is lifting the cap on SALT and providing immediate tax relief to hard working Americans.”

At the end of the evening, Jake Tapper tossed a softball as he suggested that Trump might be watching. “Congressman Lawler, a message for President Trump?”

“My message to President Trump is that we can address the challenges facing this country by working together to address the cost of living, the border, energy, immigration, uh, addressing education, and the conflicts around the globe. Mr. President, I’m counting on you to deliver on the promise to lift the cap on SALT. I appreciate it.”

To which, Kaitlan Collins said: “A message to a local audience. Thank you, Congressman.” And concluded the farce.

I’m somehow reminded of Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey.

Lawler’s SALT tour continued today on Morning Joe, where they inexplicably devoted 12 minutes of airtime to Lawler. Peter Baker of the New York Times asked him how he thought the GOP was going to get a spending bill through without working across the aisle. Lawler admitted it would be tough. Then he started sprinkling salt:

“[T]he House is far more difficult uh to navigate through uh, to get to the requisite number, uh, based on some of the personalities uh, and some of the issues. I’ve been very clear, for instance, on the issue of SALT. If there is not a fix for SALT, I’m a no. I’ve been clear to the President about that, to the Speaker, to chairman Smith, and they know that.”

A profile in courage since Trump already vowed on the campaign trail to “get SALT back.”

I’m just not sure how Lawler and the GOP are going to solve the math equation of $1.5T in committed spending cuts while handing multiple hundreds of billions in additional tax relief to the wealthy through Lawler’s SALT proposal.

Mike Lawler’s lot in life may be that of Lot’s wife.