The simplest way to convince people that you care more about the well-being of working families than you do about the bottom lines of ultra-wealthy corporations is to — wait for it — actually pass legislation that prioritizes the interests of the former over those of the latter. It would not be difficult.

The first step would be for GOP leadership to insist that the amendment introduced by Rubio and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) raising the child tax credit and making it refundable against payroll taxes — you know, those things that everybody, even people making $24,000 a year at Chipotle, pay — be inserted as a condition of any further action on the bill. Millions of people who have never even considered voting for a Republican would find their lives improved by this sane and comparatively inexpensive measure.

The second one would involve the estate tax. Republicans, it is impossible for you to lose anything by insisting on leaving it where it is. The Democrats are not going to court the Sam Walton estate with a more lucrative package the minute you announce that you are removing the generous death tax provision from the bill.