What Obama is advocating is incredibly bad policy, but characterizing it as “punishing” those it does not benefit is leftist-style reasoning. I am not punished by the oil depreciation allowance which I can’t claim, not owning any oil wells, nor by the favorable tax treatment of income from overseas teaching and research, from which I don’t benefit since my university position is here in the U.S., and so forth. (You can make your own list of all the tax credits and deductions you can’t take because they don’t apply to you to emphasize the point.)
You are punished because the rates you pay have to compensate for the reductions others get. The earned income tax credit and the child deductions are paid for by raising rates on those who do not get them.