I agree that this would be an alternate approach to tackling the issue, and to be honest, from what I've read so far, would be my preference.

Anytime you see politicians avoid a straight forward, transparent solution, for an opaque one, assume there are political games being played resulting in winners and losers.

Just like why a person working for a company offering 401k is allowed to save $19k in a tax advantaged retirement account, but a person working at a small sandwich shop not offering a 401k is only allowed to save $6k in a tax advantaged retirement account.