ABOARD THE NEBUCHANEZZER - The furor that the Democrats have sought to artificially create regarding the recently passed tax cut package can be easily and decisively defeated. Or the Republicans can continue to fail to learn from the past and be "school lunched" once again.

As you may have heard, the Democrats have finished poll testing their "feigned outrage du jour" and have implemented their plan in all of their campaign newsletters (Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, the Washington Post). They intend to attack the President and the Republicans over the recently passed tax cut bill by saying that the bill shorts the "working poor" and others at the low end of the income spectrum. The centerpiece of their objection is the refusal of the President and the Republicans to fund a $400 welfare payment to poor people in the form of a "per child tax credit" as part of the Tax
Cut Bill.

Traditionally, Republicans have simply said no or otherwise opposed such communist-based schemes and have been portrayed as Grinches or other heartless vermin. One highlight of this tactic was to portray Republicans as being in favor of starving school children when the Republicans sought to pay for the school lunch program with block grants to the states rather than directly by the federal government.

This made "school lunching" a verb. Its meaning was to lie about a proposal by making it sound like a cold and heartless "cut" in spending when what was actually happening was an expenditure increase.

The Republicans can avoid being "school lunched" over the tax cut bill and can eliminate the issue for the Democrats very easily. By passing a $400 per child tax deduction rather than a $400 per child tax credit.

First of all, nobody in the "middle 40%" of voters knows the difference between a tax credit and a tax deduction. More than likely, nobody among the Democrats' traditional base of tax consumers knows the difference either. So, let the Democrats try to explain in five-word soundbites the difference between a tax cut and a tax deduction. I know that I can explain it in terms that Republicans can understand. "Those who pay taxes are the only ones who can and should benefit from tax cuts."

But it would be very difficult for the Democrats to explain their position to their constituency without at the same time revealing that their plan is nothing more than a welfare payment thereby alienating the "middle 40%" who by and large despise welfare payments.

In passing a deduction instead of a credit, the Republicans could basically say, "We gave them what they asked for." and leave it to the Democrats to try and explain (in this bumper sticker world) the difference. In addition, the per child tax deduction sounds like it helps anybody with children, including working families, and not just the "top 1% of taxpayers."

In sum, it would be the perfect riposte. It would be consistent with Republican ideals that those who pay the taxes are the only ones who should get a tax cut. It stops a communist style raid on the public treasury. And more importantly, it would eliminate a bread and utter tactic of the Democrats. It would prevent the Democrats from portraying the Republicans as cruel, mean, heartless and preferring only the wealthy and allow the Republicans as being for anybody who has children. It would require the Democrats to spend valuable time explaining the intricasies of tax law and would even open up a second avenue of attack for Republicans who could then answer "See how complicated the tax code is!"

It would be devasting to the Democrats and it would be good policy as well. Just in time for the election.