Undoing the tax cut damage will take more than a brake pedal

As a young high school American government teacher, I compared our system to an automobile that was useful if it could start, speed up, slow down and stop. When the people thought government needed to be more active, they elected liberal Democrats to press down on the accelerator. When people thought government’s role was getting too large and expensive, they elected Republicans to apply the brakes and slow things down.

Our national debt is now $20 trillion and rising. That amounts to about $155,000 in tax liability for the average family of four, and to about $320,000 for each individua...