I hereby propose a $1.00 flat tax on dying. 

I'd even waive it for people who die without means to pay.

Call it The Death Tax. That would be its official name.

Then when Republicans start ranting about how the “death tax” is too high, rational people could say “No, it's only a dollar.”

They would, of course, say “No, I mean that other tax.” And one could reply, “Ah, you mean the Estate Tax. Why didn't you say so in the first place?”

And then a rational discussion could ensue. Ok, just kidding about that part. But at least those who were duped by the spin could have something they could look up.

Because honestly, the whole “death tax” naming by the Republicans is intended to provoke the notion that you get taxed just for dying. And you don't.

The tax could later even be removed. No more dollar. Then when people asked about it, you could say “Death tax? Oh, that was gotten rid of.”

Or, if you don't like that plan, we could keep things as they are and when the Republicans pull the “death tax” card we could say, “Hey, don't you always say you should tax people on what you don't want them to do. You don't want them to die, do you?” After all, it'd be rather callous of them to be wanting to make it easy for people to die, isn't it?

The Democrats should just say they've learned from the Republicans to make everything be about money and to work through the tax system to incentivize what industry should be doing.

We could even say we think rich people are especially important so we want there to be a very strong disincentive for them to die.