Ctaylor12's Blog

     President Obama sat down with the top Military and Foreign policy advisors as well as the National Security advisors. There topic revolved around one object; Afghanistan. This, is in fact, the fifth meeting of such matters in the past few weeks to discuss what to do in Afghanistan. A General McChrystal stands firm in the choice that sending 40,000 troops, as do many of the others. General McChrystal believes that the extra manpower is needed to prevent an insurgency, or is the key to a plan of counterinsurgency as he put it. However, a few are against him, such as Vice President Joe Biden. Vice President Joe Biden advocates for an effective antiterrorist strategy by using special forces and technology to deduce the number of the al Queda on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. President Barack Obama is put under a large amount of stress in this situation, for there are a number of people who support General McChrystal in his decision, but many others also support Vice President Joe Biden. In fact, President Barack Obama is still very hesitant about sending more troops over to Afghanistan. Only time will tell what decision is made, however tight of a spot anyone is put in.

     In my opinion even the remote thought of sending more troops over to Afghanistan absolutely horrifies me. We have already last many lives as it is, why should we send more that could be killed. I know that the defence of our country is important, but sending more troops over is not a good idea. In this world it has always amazed me how we, as humans, make war to maintain a state of peace, however fleeting it may be. I see the arguments of sending more troops over, that they need more power to stop insurgents with, but i believe that war, or any conflict for that matter, can be avoided. Now, if we do not send troops to Afghanistan the al Queda will still be alive and would be able to plan another attack against us. In all honesty, what are the chances of such a thing happening in modern day airports, with all the equipment to detect any metal and see through luggage. However, if we do send troops to Afghanistan to exterminate the al Queda like bugs or mice it is highly likely that some, if not most, would get injured or even killed. Then the United States would have nothing to fear about for their borders, except for a few that might have fled, and with the cost of a few weeping families. To send more troops to Afghanistan is wrong, and I think that simply talking things out with the terrorists would go a long way. For they are human beings as we are, so they must have a voice of reason in themselves.

Advisers Review Afghanistan Strategy

Senate Finance Commitee Chairman Max Baucus has introduced a new slimmed-down Healthcare Reform plan that would cost around 856 billion dollars, much less that the proposed one trillion dollars. His reform calls for some of the other reforms called for, but in this one it would call for the set up of non-profit consumer owned cooperatives that would compete directly with private businesses. Baucus made a speech on Capitol Hill about his reform bill, one of the many that are around, and how it gives the same commitments that President Barack Obama set forth at his speech during the joint session in Congress. He said that his bill reflected upon months of planning and shows the integrity of the entire committee over the year they worked on said bill. The bill contains the well established fact that an insurance company can not refuse a person or group from health insurance due to pre-existing conditions and health status. Baucus believes that to have a real reform we must have the insurance companies held responsible for what they do, or in this case what they have not. It creates competition, holds the companies responsible and creates choices that are real for Americans. The bill, in fact, also changes the system of paying for medicine and medical treatment from a fee-for-service into one based more on how the patient comes out. He also added that the Cogressional Budget Office have estimated that this bill will in fact decrease the cost to people and companies whil also decreasing the deficit. However, people do disagree with the bill for they believe that it is not the best thing out there, so they keep looking at the other reforms that are around them in disdain, but Baucus seems optimistic. He tells the press that his bill is good and balnced, so it will pass the Senate, and that his bill would actually fight fraud and abuse in Medicare. It would also increase the incentive of health care providers to improve their quality and would increase Medicare funding.

In my opinion of the bill that Chairman Baucus has introduced is that if it costs a little less than what the other options are it is worth looking into and seeing if it would be possible to use it. The difference between this bill and the proposed sum is 144 billion dollars, which then could be put to use in other parts of the government plans, whatever those may be the most important at the time. If it also is in agreeance with the terms set down by President Barack Obama then that is even better for the people of the United States. The idea of changing the payment procedure is one that will be well supported by most, instead of paying a fee for a visit people will pay for what the outcome is. Truly, this might actually be the plan that everyone votes on, although some to have their worries about the bill, and I agree with a few of those reasons. The one reason is that the spectrum of the plan and how wide it is stretched is a worry to Senator Susan Collins, and I must agree with her. If the plan is too widespread small gaps will start to open up, and soon those holes will get bigger and bigger until it swallows the whole of the plan. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller believes that the proposed bill is untested and unsubstantiated and should not be given out to the public for there is no proof that the bill will in fact decrease costs. I agree with Chairman Rockefeller in the purpose that to release an untested idea is an easy recipe for disaster, but I disagree with him in the cact that to test something it must first in fact have not be tested. So overall, the bill does have its ups and downs, so I agree with most of what is in the bill and most of the problems surrounding the bill, but let us see what the Senate decides.

Healthcare Reform

Bulgaria has a large diversity of religions within its borders, but what is really is odd that there has not been much religious conflict there. The people’s religions are as follows; Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Catholic Christianity, Protestant Christianity, Armenian Apostolic Christianity, Judaism, and Buddhism. The dominant religion of Bulgaria though is Orthodox Christianity, and the least dominant is Buddhism. Judaism is right above Buddhism; only 1,363 people worship Judaism, but they have exerted much energy into shaping the culture of the community they live in. They are centered around much larger cities, such as the capitol of Sofia. Islam is the largest minority religion, and the worshippers of Islam are found mainly in Rhodopes, the southern part of Bulgaria. In fact, the capitol city Sofia is known as “Triangle of Religious Tolerance”; the Saint Nedelya Church, Banya Bashi Mosque, and the Sofia Synagogue are all located within meters of each others.

Religion In Bulgaria

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

Sofia Synagogue

Banya Bashi Mosque

Bulgaria’s government is called a Parliamentary Democracy, which means that the Prime Minister of the executive branch is drawn from the legislative branch. In a Parliamentary Democracy the head of the government is, in fact, head of both the executive branch and the legislative branch. The Council of Ministers is the executive branch of Bulgaria and they all meet in Sofia, the capitol of Bulgaria. The National Assembly, or Narodno Sabranie, consists of 240 members and they enact laws, can approve the budget, schedules the presidential elections, select and dismiss the Prime Minister, declares war, deploys troops, and confirms international treaties and agreements. The members of Narodno Sabranie are elected every four years by popular vote, and the President is elected by popula rvote as well and serves a five-year term. The judicial system consists of three different pieces; regional, district, and appeal courts. They also have a Supreme Administrative Court and a system of military courts. They became completely independant from Turkey in 1908, but the third of March is their Liberation day, and they adopted a constitution on the twelth of of July, 1991, although they had two constitutions before that but they were all overthrown. The Constitution grants suffrage to everyone, as long as they are eighteen or older in age. The Constitution also grants the freedom of religion and equality of all religions, however law prohibits the public practice of religion if they are not registered. The civil and criminal law of Bulgaria are both based on Roman law, and they accept compulsory ICJ (International Court of Justice) with reservations. The flag of Bulgaria, as seen above, is composed of three horizontal bars of the colors white, green, and red.

Bulgaria’s Government

Narodno Sabranie

Bulgarian Flag

Bulgaria

Bulgaria’s Religion

The authorities of Bulgaria have begun to crack down on the merchants who import fruits and vegetables from out of the country. The response to this evasion is doubling the number of guards on the borders of Greece and Macedonia. The government of Bulgaria says that every year they lose between $2-3 billion levs (Between $1.5 and $2.2 billion American dollars) due to the amount of illegal smuggling. The merchants are trying to avoid the Value Added Tax, a tax that takes money in proportion to the value of the cargo. The reason that Bulgaria has to import so many crops is that very little of Bulgaria’s land is fertile, and years of Post-Communist neglect had made farming into the least-developed sector of the government.

In my opinion, the Bulgarian government has the right to tax the merchants’ wares as they go through. The people who are trying to evade the taxation though are doing an illegal act even though they are trying to make as much profit as they can, as any business should. However, they are breaking a law and should be punished for it, and anyway, its a tax that everyone has to pay. They doubled the number of guards on the border for inspection, so now there is less of a chance that you will get away with anything under-handed. The government loses and extreme amount of money to the people who try to cheat there way in, so the government should be allowed to search, and the merchants should respect their decision.

Tax-Dodging Vegetable Merchants

Value Added Tax

Bulgaria’s new Prime Minister is reconsidering the past government’s commitment to Russia about the three major energy projects with Russia, which includes building a new $5.7 billion nuclear plant on the Danube River. They are also rethinking their participation in the South Stream gas pipeline and the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline. The reasons being that there were certain environmental concerns from the people about the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeling leading from Burgas, Bulgaria’s Black Sea port, to the Greek Aegean sea port of Alexandroupolis, and that the South Stream pipeline would increase Europe’s dependency on Russian energy. They will, however, build a nuclear plant at Belene, only 155 miles northeast of the capital Sofia, to make up for the closing of the to units at the existing nuclear plant of Kozlodui. They needed to close said nuclear plant to join the European Union, so the plan of building the new nuclear plant is being revived after the plan was frozen in 1990 due to environmentalists believing that it would pose a safety risk.

I believe that the plan to revive a frozen plan is a good one; the plan is already there so just build the new nuclear plant just 155 miles northeast of Sofia. This way they have a way to produce some of their own energy instead of relying on another for the energy, mainly Russia. The agreement to build a pipe that would carry gas from Russia to Europe is a little intriguing to me, on the fact that they have their own energy from coal and other sources. The concerns of carrying oil through a pipeline are valid and I agree with them, but if a country needs oil and is willing to pipe it through other countries then they should be allowed to. On September first in 2009, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov of Bulgaria sat down with Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister, to discuss these topics in Gdansk, Poland, and that I believe talking things through is always a good way to solve any problem.

Bulgaria to review energy deals with Russia

Chief of State: President Georgi Parvanov, Vice President Angel Marin

Head of Government: Prime Minister Boyko Borissov Deputy Prime Minister Simeon Djankov and Deputy Prime Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov

In Bulgaria the President and Vice President are usually on the same ticket by a popular vote and can serve a second term. Each term is five years in length.

The Prime Minister however is elected by the National Assembly and the Deputy Prime Ministers are chosen by the Prime Minister and elected by the National Assembly.

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov’s Picture

Leaders of Bulgaria

President Georgi Paranov’s Picture

Bulgaria, once under Communist control, is a free market economy, which means that the prices of goods in their country are mainly decided by supply and demand. When the Soviet market burned the bridge of trade with Bulgaria they were hit hard; they normally traded with the Soviets so losing that trade partnership would hurt. Bulgaria joined the European Union on the first of January, 2007 and it still has the lowest ranking income of all the European Union. Bulgaria is also a member of CEFTA (Central European Free-Trade Agreement) with Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Macedonia; however, since Croatia and Romania were not part of the European Union for a while it caused problems. More countries that Bulgaria trades with are Albania, Estonia, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, and Turkey. Bulgaria is naturally rich in iron, copper, gold, bismuth, and coal while they also manufacture electronics, refined petroleum fuels, vehicle components, weapons, and construction materials. Bulgaria has felt a quick economical increase in the past half a decade, while they also had to tame the deep inflation they experienced during the economic crisis in 1996-1997. Agriculture plays a role in Bulgaria as they are among the top number of exporters for such plants as anise and sunflower seeds, but also raspberries, tobacco, chili peppers, and plenty of others. Bulgaria’s GDP at the end of 2008 was and estimated 93.78 billion American dolloars, and in comparison to all the other countries around the world it ranks in at the sixty-eighth. Bulgaria imports and exports their energy, but they are realizing the problems with using coal as fuel and are turning to much greener methods; such as increasing the number of wind turbines to create more clean electricity, and also cutting down trees to produce timber and wood to burn. Bulgaria is bordered by Romania to the north, Serba and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, and the Black Sea to the east, but Bulgaria does not export or fish anymore. While Bulgaria’s land is not filled with oil and natural gas for fuel they do have an enormous amount of coal that they export and use, although they are slowly drifting to the concept of green energy. The Bulgarian economy is slowly growing each year by 6%, which attracts a decent amount of foreign attraction.

Foreign Economic Relations

Bulgarian Economy And Its Growth

Bulgaria

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