"they never are"
As I said before, it's not a question of whether it's equitable or not, it's a question of whether there should be any exemptions.
" It's done all the time. It always has been. By every government that ever existed."
Wrong. Study some American history. It wasn't originally done when the country was founded. And even when the income tax was started in 1913 it was still illegal for the Federal gov't to make payments to individuals. It didn't become legal for the gov't to give money (or benefits) to individuals until FDR was able to appoint enough Supreme Court Justices so that he could get the law (and 150+ years of precedent) overturned.
There are numerous examples throughout this country's history (at least up until the 20th Century) where well-intentioned souls attempted to get some seemingly appropriate charitable endeavor voted on in Congress, but it was refused because the leaders believed that it was not right to give public largesse from to individuals from the treasury.
Here's another bit of historical perspective for you from Alexander Tyler:
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship."
What planet do you live on? Did your mother overprotect you?
You think you're arguing morality when all you're arguing about is who should get the tax money.
That aside there are legitimate questions about how society should be organized and what are the functions of government.