Don’t deductions, credits, etc allow the government to incentivize citizens to behave in certain ways? Are you implying that it shouldn’t be in the business of incentivizing behavior?

Well yes, I would absolutely say the federal government shouldn't be in the business of manipulating markets and consumer behavior. That was never part of our government design in the first place, unless you consider dealing with interstate commerce disputes to fall under that umbrella.

Practically though, our tX system and economy is much too complicated to be able to accurately say whether incentives through deductions and credits are a net positive. We can say how expensive they are, but how do we measure the value added by pushing consumers in one direction or another? And if we can't measure its value should the government have that authority?