Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s universal child care proposal isn’t a solution in search of a problem — it’s a proposed pot of money in search of things to spend it on.

Usually, policymakers identify problems and then levy taxes to pay for them. But putting the cart before the horse, Warren, D-Mass., first proposed a wealth tax and then found it was burning a hole in her pocket. Her proposed Universal Child Care and Early Learning Act is the first of many poorly planned uses to justify her desire to tax those with more money than her.