Framing the debate is important, there's a reason why the words "Estate Tax" haven't passed the lips of any Republican in years. And there's a reason why the words "Death Tax" should never be uttered by a Democrat, yet we keep doing the Republicans work for them.
I've just been nosing around Kerry's website, and came across this
page on the deficit. One of the things that struck me is the nice phrase "Birth Tax" to describe the $35,000 that is each new child's portion of the deficit. But then not four words later they go and use the phrase that should be forbidden from every vocabulary: "Death Tax".
Ok, so I understand the nice Birth-Death Duality of it, but dammit, even acknowledging that his is a valid description of the tax hurts us. Rhetorically, the goal is to maximize the perceived damage of things that Bush does, and minimize the perceived benefit. Thus things like Birth Tax work, Birth applies to everyone, thus Bush's deficit is an attack on everyone in the country. The formulation is inclusive, it makes Bush's actions an affront to everyone, while making Democrats look concerned for everyone, not just specific groups.
The term "Death Tax" works in the same manner, except that this time Bush wants to do the cutting, and we want at least to maintain it. So here the inclusivity of the term "Death" is the last thing we want. "Estate" exludes a large proportion of the population, and makes the cuts look like the sop to a minority that they are.
So please, for the love of all that is good and true, stop saying "Death Tax"!
This is a no-brainer guys, lets stop giving up easy points.