Unless the citizens of the United States control the distribution of tax money, the creation of laws and the waging of war, they are not free. Freedom cannot exist in a society that appoints leaders into positions of author-ity strong enough to start wars, create laws and distribute tax money without the voice of the people being heard. Without political decision-making power vested in the multitude, there is no hope for a society to represent the will of the people, for decisions shall be made by officials who are apart from the people. Misrepresentation of the people is thus very likely if not absolutely certain.According to the Gallup Poll that collect-ed data during the first week of February, 72 percent of U.S. citizens disapprove of the War in Iraq. Yet, the United States government shows a firm commitment to the war. If a nation is supposed to be free, and the citizens of that nation do not support a war being fought, then how can those people remain free if the government continues to fight the war? If the people do not directly control the deployment of troops to foreign wars, the people are not free citizens, but are subjects to an authority, for their very lives are affected by the whims of that authority. Indeed, if the War in Iraq is unpopular amongst the citizens of the United States, then why has the administration request-ed a military budget that exceeds $700 billion instead of withdrawing troops? Taxes are raised from the labor of the people and are required by the govern-ment. However, the people are unable to direct the appropriation of that money and are made impotent in the decision process. Unless the people are able to direct federal taxes, those people are not free, for the product of their labor is appropri-ated by magistrates apart from the peo-ple and the general will of the people is ignored. Laws, more than any other element of free societies, must be created by the people, for those laws are terms that all must agree to if they are to be bound by them justly. Without consent to the laws, the peo-ple are governed unjustly because they are made subjects to those who create the laws. The people thus lose their power to determine their own actions. The people of the United States are not free. They are bound by chains imposed by a government that controls the nation apart from the consent of the people.