“And the survey says . . . .”

MAGA nation got the entertainment spectacle that it deserves yesterday. Today we are all MAGA nation, reading the comic books and getting caught in the crossfire of a criminal enterprise. Tiny inhabitants getting crushed under the stomping feet of Godzilla and King Kong.

Maybe this email from my Congressman, Mike Lawler, will make sense of it for me, explain how anybody could be unhappy with a Big Beautiful Bill (BBB). The BBB that passed with Mike Lawler as the deciding vote.

Hmm. Looks like a survey.

This is what we’ve gotten used to with Mike Lawler. A stream of surveys that distract and naturally guide us to Lawler’s policy positions, and insult our intelligence. In this case, Lawler is promoting natural gas. Why would I be in favor of a policy that hinders economic growth? Forget Elon, pass that BBB, get rid of those clean energy credits, and drill, baby, drill.

His prior survey was worse.

Of course I don’t want to pay more taxes. Pass that BBB! It’s our only choice!

Hard to miss that salt shaker. That’s right, Mike Lawler’s all-consuming fight to raise the cap on State and Local Tax (SALT) deductions. An incremental increase that will cost hundreds of billions of dollars and primarily benefit the wealthy. He laid down the Lawler again yesterday: “No SALT. No deal.”

Witness his opinion piece in Tuesday’s edition of the right-leaning New York Post: “Our ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ will provide New Yorkers tax relief they desperately need.” Lawler has nailed the Trumpian technique of branding his critics as liars, then clouding the facts:

For those who falsely claim lifting the SALT cap was only a tax cut for the rich, that’s a bunch of bull. Over 93% of Hudson Valley home and business owners will see a tax cut if this bill is signed into law. Those are the facts.

Note how he uses the word “only” versus “primarily” in the first sentence, then makes it sound like the SALT changes alone will benefit 93% of taxpayers, versus all of the tax cuts that are being extended in the BBB.

You can almost hear Lee Greenwood’s voice swell as Lawler continues: “Quadrupling the SALT cap will be a lifeline for the teachers, nurses, small-business owners and first responders who keep our communities strong, and for all of the working-class families and retirees on fixed incomes across the Hudson Valley.”

It’s just a fact that Lawler’s SALT crusade will primarily benefit the rich, at great cost to the rest of us. I refer you to analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget as well as the Tax Foundation.

And Mike goes on: “Plus, despite the lies being told, we protected Medicaid for those who genuinely need it.” Again, those lying liars. Reality, Lawler supports taking health insurance away from 11 million people, while extending tax cuts for the rich. For your consideration: “CBO: Nearly 11 million people will be uninsured if GOP megabill becomes law”; and “Trump and Allies Sell Domestic Policy Bill With Falsehoods.”

Tired of Lawler’s surveys, I plan to attend his live family feud on Sunday night at the local high school auditorium and conduct a survey of my own. If it’s like his last town hall, his constituents are likely to get carried away.