Show me the money!

Republican-oriented tax lobbyists are interpreting late-campaign solicitations as a requirement for a ticket to enter the office of Rep. Charles Rangel as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee in a Democratic-controlled House. Both free-lance and corporate lobbyists have received telephone solicitations for Rangel's leadership PAC (political action committee), which distributes funds to Democratic congressional candidates who need them. Rangel is virtually unopposed in his Harlem district. The lobbyists, who give almost exclusively to Republicans, are told that the contribution would be ''a nice gesture for Charlie.''

Rangel issued a statement that in his 42 years of state and federal legislative office, ''campaign contributions have never been required or even suggested as a way to get access to me.''

Rangel has proudly declared that one of the first things he's going to do is crank the taxes up.