As part of his budget released last week, President Obama grasped onto a familiar crutch for desperate politicians when he called for a hike in the federal cigarette tax. On paper, the revenue stream is supposed to finance a new universal preschool program, but the justification for the tax goes up in smoke upon closer examination.

Cigarette taxes and other so-called sin taxes have spread in recent decades because they’re an easy way for government to promise benefits for the population as a whole by targeting a minority of the population that is perceived as doing something bad.