With about a year to define the terms of the next election, Republicans in the Congress seem determined to return to the status of loyal opposition.

Maybe there's more up their collective sleeve than a tax cut, but so far they haven't identified it if there is.

Don't get me wrong. Republicans aren't falling into lethargy. They aren't becoming a do-nothing majority. They're working hard to bring conservative ideas to the forefront of the debate over Social Security, education, welfare reform and other topics.

But it's not enough to simply dig into the legislative work load and do a decent job during 1999. If the GOP wants to stay in the majority in the wake of an unpopular but necessary impeachment process, its members must define some issues that are close to people's hearts. They must get into the driver's seat and seize the high ground on those issues.

You may wonder what's wrong with pushing for a tax cut. Nothing per se, but unless something drastic happens to middle class Americans over the next few months, it's not going to be a defining issue. A tax cut is not the hill Republicans should be prepared to die on.

When President Reagan passed his tax cuts in the '80s, the situation was different. The economy was choking from overtaxation. Since then, interest rates have dropped, employment is high, inflation is under control and incomes are growing.

Many people are actually afraid of a tax cut... afraid it will rock the boat and tip the budget balance back into the depths of deficit spending and suddenly plunge us into recession.

So what are the defining issues for election 2000? Where's the hill I think Republicans should be willing to die on?

How about going back and picking up some of the lost items from the Contract with America?

Don't laugh. Republicans don't have to trot the "contract" name back out again. But those issues were strong enough to reverse 50 years of history and put Republicans in charge, and they're strong enough, if presented properly, to galvanize public support.

I'm talking primarily about a balanced budget amendment. Some other issues, like doing away with the Internal Revenue Service and term limits, would be worth some attention as well.

An overwhelming majority of people want a balanced budget amendment, and in the Contract with America, Republicans promised to bring that issue to a vote within the first 100 days of their taking the majority.

Having done so, and having lost that vote, it seems they've put the idea on a back burner. Were they really committed to the concept in the first place, or did they just put it in the Contract to get votes, perfunctorily going through the motions of bringing it to the table and then brushing it aside?

A rather Clintonesque scenario, wouldn't you say?

Democrats will be forced to fight against a balanced budget amendment, because it would tie their hands and prevent them from using the budget to buy votes (some Republicans suffer from this disease as well), and because they believe in a huge and powerful central government fueled by more money than a single year's taxes can readily supply.

But in fighting it, they are opposing 70 percent of Americans, who favor limiting the power of government over their lives by forcing it to live within its means.

It's impossible to pass a balanced budget amendment. Even if it got through Congress, the president would veto it. But battling for it will clearly show the contrast between two philosophies of government. And if they keep such issues on the front burner, Republicans may eventually have a large enough majority to actually make it happen.

Term limits likewise may never happen, because our representatives on both sides of the aisle tend to enjoy the high salaries and perks of their office and they're not likely to limit their terms, but Republicans must show their integrity by continuing to push for the popular issues that put them where they are today.

The flat tax/sales tax issue continues to be a hot button with voters. Republicans should make some noise about the fact that they have reined in the IRS and reduced its abuses, but they should also acknowledge that those changes aren't permanent. The IRS is abusive because the graduated income tax is a program that invites abuse.

And the IRS is abusive because many taxpayers abuse the system.

A flat tax or a sales tax will end all that, and most people favor one or the other. Republicans can put impeachment behind them by getting out front in this fight.

There are others. Welfare reform has been begun, but there's more to be done. The death tax continues to be a travesty and eliminating it would draw almost universal support from voters. The tendrils of federal control continue to reach into many areas of commerce and personal life where they don't belong.

If Republican leaders want to throw a tax cut into an overall assault on issues that will resonate with voters, fine. But it's way down the list.

And if they try to ride that issue into next year's elections, they'll find it doesn't have any coat tails.