I cringe every time I see a plan of the form "tax x to help y", with some supposed relation between x and y as justification. Is x something we want to discoura

I cringe every time I see a plan of the form "tax x to help y", with some supposed relation between x and y as justification. Is x something we want to discourage? Does y need help the most? These questions are completely unrelated. If x is something we want to discourage, we should tax it, then think about how to best spend the money. If y needs help the most we should help, then think about whether to spend less on other things, raise taxes or go further into debt.