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You are 100% correct. Unfortunately parents today are not stepping up to the plate. I had to give my next door neighbor a ride to her appointment at the frr clinic in my town. She is an illegal, has 2 children and is pregnant again. They rent the place next door and are barely ekeing by now. She has a 2 yr old little girl and a 7 year old little boy. I caretake the elderly for an agency and have supplies and games in my car for them. She told the boy to stay out of my supplies & games and to put his seat belt back on. He stuck his tongue out at her and said no. He was so disruptive that I finally stopped the car and told him to get out of my stuff, sit on the butt the good Lord gave him and to keep his mouth shut. I said your Mother may not blister your butt little boy but while your in my car you will do as I say or I will. He did just what I told him to do. She threatens but never does and why because she does not want to be arrested for child abuse. Big Brother needs to stay out of rearing children it has led to a bunch of brats.

Smoking tax=socialism
income tax=socialism
Propert6y taz = socialliam
no taxes = socialism

All you have to do is go to your local playground, or zoo, or anywhere that people bring their kids to. From 20 feet away, moms and dads will call out "Susie, Frank, Whatcamacallit, come here/don't throw sand/don't go there". Maybe about 1 in 20, will actually get up and stop the behavior. They ask, they plead, they threaten, they yell, but they never follow through. Little wonder that when Mom/Dad say "no" it is taken as "go ahead, I won't stop you".
Not that I think any government or bunch of regulations will do any better. It's somewhat like those parents who bubble wrap everything in the house, put away anything breakable, make sure every thing is locked, or safe, and foam wrap the kids. First time without foam and bubbles, and disaster follows.
I have a friend who "can't", take away a cell phone, ground her kids, not let them go to a party, not enforce a curfew or earlier a bedtime, not stop them from hitting each other, or constant, constant bickering (above and beyond the "normal" constant). I've given up telling her that the problem wasn't that she "can't", but that she "won't".

I don't consider all taxes to be socialism. A tax solely to raise revenue for Constitutionally authorized government functions isn't socialism. A tax designed to control people's behavior is. The obvious question is where does the control stop? Do we tax bacon and egg breakfasts, ban eggnog at Christmas, or outlaw grilling a steak on July 4th? Once you surrender your personal freedom of choice to someone who may not know any more than you do, that freedom is gone forever. The same goes for surrendering control of your children to the government. Does big brother really know better?
I think that free market forces influenced by parental involvement can go a long way to solving the problem. In some areas parents have demanded that schools replace soft drink machines with healthier juices and milk. Restaurants are starting to offer healthier menus and less "supersizing". Parents can also influence how much exercise their children get, a second major factor in childhood obesity.

In Chicago, soda and candy bars are taxed at 10.25%

What do you suppose the government does with the taxes collected ? They set up a new bureaucracy heated by a well paid bureaucrat with connections but little education or integrity and staffed by too many too highly paid bureaucrats,all enjoying salaries, benefits and retirement at taxpayers' expenses.

Well we have a tax on alcohol and cigarettes now, dont we??? We need the money and people need guidance. I quit smoking partly because the price of tobacco was going up so fast.

"government needs the money and people need guidance"....right out of the socialist's handbook of how to control the public. The amazing thing is that leftists (socialists) are so out front with some of their intentions (wealth re-distribution, social engineering, etc.). I do appreciate your posts Xbor...otherwise some may not see the evil in some of these programs.

a tax on soft drinks i probably easier to swollow
just like the tax on cigarretes
or alcuhol they effect not everyone thety allow people to decide what they want to do pay more to drink a pepsi (example) or drink something elae. the question what they do wih the money collected propably for another thread.

Gee Einstein ! Is there no wisdom in europe at all?? Only evil ??? I think you would prefer Hitler !!

Less you forget your history..much of Europe bought into Hitler's grand scheme of social engineering. Austria all but granted him sainthood in their haste to make him their leader. So, I'm not that enthused about European wisdom. Check with Greece and see how well the Euro is treating them. I would prefer not having any form of socialist/marxist, whether it be a Hitler like dictator or your fearless leader.