Traffic cameras — those silent but implacable witnesses to driving infractions that can result in hefty fines for red-light running or speeding in a school zone — have never been all that popular with Florida residents. To many, they seem unfair: Because law enforcement is rarely present when the camera records a violation, there’s no human interaction. By the time the ticket arrives in the mail, the memory of having broken the law has faded, even though motorists usually have the ability to go online and see video of their misdeeds. And particularly in the early days of camera-monitored tickets, there were questions about tricks employed by the private vendors with contracts to run the cameras on behalf of local governments.

For more than two decades, America has pursued a policy as costly as the New Deal of the 1930s or the Great Society of the 1960s, but with a much narrower aim: cut taxes. Judging from the Congressional Budget Office’s latest forecasts, it has gone much too far. Extending the provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which are set to expire next year, will add an estimated $4 trillion to the federal government’s already perilously high debts.