Policy makers and pundits have begun to seriously dread the next installment of political brinksmanship scheduled for the end of the year. A confluence of crucial deadlines will coalesce in the post-election Lame Duck Congress that will allow this notoriously partisan, gridlocked legislature to exercise its last gasp of power before 2013. At the turning of the year, the national debt ceiling will once again need to be raised; the Bush tax cuts will expire if not amended or extended; and the draconian cuts in spending agreed upon in the last debt ceiling debacle will go into effect.

Using the filibuster in the Senate and their uncompromising and radical right-wing majority in the House, Republicans are likely to once again attempt to extort significant concessions from Democrats at this critical time. Most economists agree, however, that across-the-board tax hikes (total repeal of the Bush tax cuts) or huge spending cuts to lower the national debt would cripple our weak recovery. Either policy would suck far too much money out of our fragile economy, possibly pushing us over a fiscal cliff into a recession. Unfortunately, a well-crafted bipartisan plan to address these issues and move constructively past the impending deadlines is hard to imagine in today’s dysfunctional Congress. Hence, the flashing red light.

As predicted repeatedly on this site, late November through December 2012 is likely to be a highly dramatic and contentious period.  The progressed US Sun will be moving into a square with natal Uranus (8Gemini55) as of September 2012, waxing for a year, and strongly triggered by Pluto (8Capricorn55), Jupiter (8Gemini55), and Saturn (8Scorpio55) during what promises to be a very volatile five weeks. There may be a strong mood of push back and rebellion (Uranus) in the country and probably a great deal of grass roots agitation. It is probable that much of this will center on the crucial economic issues being debated before Congress, but it is also quite possible that there may be a fierce confrontation over some of the election results or that some other totally unforeseen issue may erupt during that time.

Within this framework, the most difficult period for President Obama will be from December 11 through December 20, when transiting Saturn will cross his natal Neptune (8Scorpio36), suggesting compromises that he does not wish to make but is forced to consider due to the political reality (Saturn) of the situation. On a more positive note, the first 11 days of January 2013 look extremely strong and positive for the president, suggesting to me that the Democrats may continue to hold the Senate and could alter the filibuster rule at that time.

In other news, there is increasing fear that Greece will default on its loans and refuse the latest bailout agreement and the demands for austerity that are included in it. Concern is rampant that this could set off new troubles in Portugal and Ireland which are also highly indebted and rely on foreign loans.

The chart for Greece suggests that the most difficult period will be from early May through the first few days of August 2012. The Saturn station is square to Greece’s Sun (22Capricorn45) and sesquiquadrate Greece’s Venus (8Pisces56) during this time frame. The same Saturn station will adversely impact the chart for Papoulias’ presidency (3/12/05): Node 22Aries59 and Mars 23Capricorn59. Saturn transits always are best handled when discipline, caution, and the capacity to delay gratification are employed. Any kind of recklessness, rashness, or impatience will be counterproductive and lead to great upset and loss. Although these planets suggest an extremely stressful time for Greece and the European Union in late spring and early summer, it seems likely the worst will be over by mid-August.

As predicted in Double Whammy and other posts, the first half of May is proving to be a difficult time. Fears of a stalling economy and stubborn unemployment are pervasive due to the latest weak job numbers, with the recently plummeting Stock Market also reflecting this angst. Meanwhile, a nasty imbroglio over the fate of a Chinese dissident has threatened Chinese/American negotiations. For now, what seems to be an elegant solution has been found, but that is by no means a sure thing and will not be until Chen Guangcheng and his family are actually in New York.

The dark cloud over the economy is likely to be quite strong through May 15, easing some but with continued sluggishness through August 6. These stressful periods are due to the Saturn transit square to US Mercury (24Cancer12), the planet of employment, trade, negotiations, and communication, with these areas experiencing constriction and difficulty during this transit.

The more general stress and pessimism in the US of the past few years is likely to retreat further by mid-September 2012 and beyond. It is at that point that the long Saturn transit through Libra, adversely impacting six planets in the US chart since November 2009, will pass.

As for the fate of Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, at the moment it seems the impasse over his fate has been resolved. It has been agreed that Chen (11/12/71) will soon come to the US with his family on a student visa to attend New York University. My concern is that there may be some significant strain before this happens, if it does. The current Saturn station is sesquiquadrate to Chen’s Venus (8Sagittarius54) and Mercury (8Sagittarius19) from May 3 to August 2, activating the emotional stress and potential for loss inherent in the natal opposition between Venus/Mercury and Saturn. In addition, transiting Neptune is presently sitting on Chen’s Mars (3Pisces01) from April through June, pointing to exalted expectations likely to be disappointed.

These configurations taken together suggest sorrow, loss (Saturn), and disillusionment (Neptune) from now through early August 2012. There are some Jupiter transits from July 15 through August 6 (opposite Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter) that will return during November and December 2012, and that may mitigate some of the painful frustrations of the next three months and help to later resolve this situation. But the long Saturn station, which also is quincunx Hillary Clinton’s Moon (22Pisces50) from May 19 to July 5 (assuming her 8 AM birth time is correct) does point to some significant difficulties in the immediate future for the Chinese dissident.

As the US becomes increasingly consumed by the vicissitudes of the 2012 election cycle, there is an equally compelling drama unfolding half a world away in China.  In what has been described as the biggest corruption scandal in the Chinese government in a generation, an elite government official has been ousted, exposing a normally opaque system of patronage, bribery, and graft. Bo Xilai has been accused, among other things, of wiretapping high-level officials and involvement in the death of a British businessman. The rapidly-evolving scandal threatens to destabilize the Party establishment in a culture generally known for its top-down control and secrecy.

Adding another layer to the Chinese government’s agitation is the recent escape of a well-known blind dissident lawyer. Chen Guangcheng had been on house arrest for protesting China’s restrictive political climate and the corruption of party officials. Apparently, he has gone to the US Embassy for protection, a prickly complication for US/Chinese relations at a delicate time of needed economic and security cooperation.

The larger frame for both of these situations is whether an evolving China can become truly anchored in the rule of law.  With the ousting of Bo, Chinese officials want to show how, even at the top, corruption can be expunged. The second circumstance, however, is far more challenging. The events surrounding Chen highlight China’s unlawful use of home detention and the brutal, extrajudicial methods used to silence critics. Chen has appealed directly to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, a self-styled populist reformer who purportedly favors the rule of law. Chen’s goal is not to destabilize the government but to end the out-of-control brutality, abuse, and corruption of officials.

At the moment, The Chinese Sun (7Libra46) is under a square from transiting Pluto that runs from December 2011 through November 2012. This transit describes significant power struggles (Pluto) within the Chinese government that can affect the goals and trajectory of the nation (the Sun). The powerful Pluto transit will soon be joined by transiting Uranus opposite the Sun beginning in early May 2012 and continuing through mid-March 2013.  Thus, China will be one of the first countries in the world to get the full brunt of the convulsively transformative Uranus/Pluto square, quite potently in this case, on the nation’s Sun. The addition of Uranus into the mix suggests sudden and powerful events that can potentially destabilize situations, possibly derived by a strong push to greater equality or reform.

Essentially, the struggle will be between the forces of repression and control (Pluto) and the forces of potentially dramatic reform (Uranus). The involvement of the Chinese Sun in this configuration implies upheaval at the highest levels of government and potentially some significant shift in the country’s agenda. What is clear is that this conflict is still building in strength and will become increasingly dramatic in the coming months, most especially from May through August when both planets will be quite active. The third week in July may also be of particular significance with transiting mars and transiting Jupiter both triggering the Uranus/Pluto square.

It should also be noted that transiting Uranus will be making a station square to natal Chinese Uranus (4Cancer59) from mid-October 2012 through early February 2013 before the final crossing of Uranus opposite China’s Sun (7Libra46) in late February and March 2013. Both of these transits underline the revolutionary fervor possible at this time. The Chinese natal chart has a Sun/Uranus square, as well as Aquarius rising (1Aquarius52) with the Moon in Aquarius (3Aquarius04) on the Ascendant.  This strong Uranian/Aquarian natal element points to the egalitarian, idealistic, and communal nature in the founding of the People’s Republic, and the coming transits may well shake things up in a way that reconnects to that original intention.

The history of this period is, of course, yet to be written. But it will surely be a significant one for China, as these compelling forces align to push this powerful Asian nation into its next phase. It may also be a cautionary tale for the US, a sort of preview as to what kind of upheaval may be coming to American shores when the Uranus/Pluto square finds its way to dramatically impact the US Sun (13Cancer19) in 2014 and early 2015. It may be useful to sit on the sidelines and take notes, for now.

It has been a rough couple of weeks for President Obama. Following months of relatively good economic indicators and assertively Democratic control of the political narrative, things are slipping of late. Suddenly, the economy seems to be faltering, and the much-heralded increase in employment of the past season is now attributed to nothing more than an unusually warm winter. Even worse, this seasonal aberration may have leached jobs from what is becoming a rather anemic spring. The Stock Market has also lost some ground of late, while Europe, rather ominously, is again sliding into recession.

Meanwhile, the president’s recent trip to Latin America ended with few substantive gains, while being dramatically overshadowed by the worst Secret Service scandal in history. Even the normally uninteresting General Services Administration has erupted in stories of wild parties and opulent spending. For a normally scandal-free administration, two in a matter of days is both noteworthy and unsettling.

As pointed out numerous times on this site, the second half of April 2012 is bringing with it the transit of Saturn square to Obama’s natal Saturn (25Capricorn20). This has triggered the extreme stress of his progressed Mars square to natal Saturn, an aspect that has been in effect since January 2011, essentially simultaneous to the Republican majority in the House. This aspect has frustrated (Saturn) the president’s forward momentum (Mars) and has inhibited his attempts to manifest his plans, allowing only incremental progress at great cost. Although it peaked in strength on April 6, and has since begun to wane, the Saturn transit from April 11 through April 28 has re-energized this difficult combination for a few, very frustrating weeks. It should be pointed out that during the weekend of the Latin American summit and the Secret Service scandal outbreak, the transiting Sun was opposite transiting Saturn, setting off this whole nasty configuration. Clearly, there are no astrologers on the White House scheduling staff.

With Romney on the rise and the economy faltering, the president currently seems more vulnerable and less potent than only a short time ago. This troubling trend is likely to shift around mid-May. Early May could bring some upsets and losses to the country, including the possibly of more anxiety-provoking economic news. But things seem likely to improve again by the second half of the month, with the president entering a very strong period from late May through mid-October. The one exception during these months is likely to be from August 9 through August 21, when Saturn makes its final square to Obama’s natal Saturn. Although the progressed Mars square will be greatly diminished, thereby making this transit far less problematic than the current one, the transiting Mars conjunction to transiting Saturn from August 12 through August 14 is likely to bring the president some significant, if short-term, problems.

The second half of October through November 2 has the potential to bring some significant stress to President Obama due to transiting Saturn square his Mercury (2Leo20) and quincunx his Venus (3Gemini21).  This is no doubt when the well-funded Republicans will bring out their biggest and most scurrilous attacks, and the polls are likely to tighten. It is also possible that the Saturn/Moon transit suggests some minor health complication that briefly makes campaigning more difficult for the president.

As for the election itself, it seems that some of the results will hang in suspended animation for a matter of days due to the Mercury station on November 6. By around November 12, there is likely to be some shift in favor of the Democrats.  President Obama’s chart suggests that he will be far more contented, satisfied, and beloved than Governor Romney as the year 2012 winds down and 2013 begins. This would seem to indicate his success in the election.

There is also likely to be a period of tremendous turmoil and struggle in late November and December, when the Lame Duck Congress will have several critical issues to resolve before the New Year. The country itself is likely to be in some amount of upheaval over these decisions, as indicated by several planets activating the progressed US Sun square natal Uranus (8Gemini55) in late November and December. At the turn of the year, the Bush tax cuts are set to expire and several draconian budget cuts are set to go into effect due to the agreement made last year in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. The Electoral College also meets during this period.

It is important to remember that June through September 2012 will also be bringing the first and second Uranus/Pluto squares of the seven crossings expected in the next three years. These will come during what is likely to be a quite dramatic four-month period when these two planetary behemoths will remain in a tight aspect, under one degree of orb, for an extended time. We have already been witnessing, on a number of fronts, this building battle between concentrated and increasingly fanatical and controlling economic and political power centers (Pluto) and the upsurge of grass-roots and increasingly potent, disruptive movements that want equality and justice (Uranus). These confrontations are likely to erupt further in the coming months.

The 2012 US election is clearly one major front in this historical struggle, described astrologically as the Uranus/Pluto square, and in domestic politics as the Democrats versus the Republicans. On one side, we have a coalition of minorities, gays, women, labor, and other progressives, who all want economic, political, and social equality and a fair playing field (Uranus).  On the other, we have an extremist and obsessive (Pluto) group who are pushing through tightening restrictions and controls on minorities, gays, women, and labor, and who are funded by the owners of highly concentrated wealth (Pluto) who want control over the government in order to implement an agenda that continues their financial sovereignty and unimpeded power.

The three-year Uranus/Pluto square is a cosmological event that will have profound implications as it agitates for transformation in many parts of the world. This first round (7-8 Aries/Capricorn)  will be strongly activated by the Venus station (7-8 Gemini) from June 17 through July 4, a time during which several significant Supreme Court decisions will be announced, including the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and the draconian immigration law in Arizona. Considerable upheaval is possible whichever way these decisions fall. The Uranus/Pluto square will also be strongly triggered by transiting Jupiter (8Gemini) and transiting Mars (8Libra), from July 14 to July 20, a time likely to bring some kind of extensive turmoil in many areas of the globe, including the possibility of severe climate or geophysical conditions.

Interestingly, as this Uranus/Pluto battle comes into greater manifestation, President Obama is moving from the more restrictive progressed Mars square to his natal Saturn of the last few years to a much more aggressive and forceful solar arc Mars progression square the Sun (12Leo33) through April 2013. He will be less and less likely to pull punches as the political confrontation of 2012 intensifies. By November 2012, Obama will also begin the year-long converse progression of the Sun square to natal Mars (22Virgo35) through November 2013, with these two robust and highly energetic progressions combining to suggest a very strong start to a second term. Candidate Romney has no comparable indication of forceful, assertive leadership from November 2012 onward, with his current aggressiveness, described by converse Sun square to converse Mars, prematurely peaking this August.

Now that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has all but sewn up the Republican nomination, the season of hyperventilated sports metaphors is upon us. “Game on!” was universally proclaimed by the congenitally excitable news media, obviously salivating for a brutal, knock-down, drag-out slug fest.

The heated skirmish of the moment is over a random pundit claim that Ann Romney “has never worked a day in her life” which Republicans have morphed into charges that Democrats do not value women who stay home and care for their children. In actuality, Ann Romney has never worked outside the home, nor has she had the many economic and emotional stresses that most working women struggle with, including the painful juggling of child care with work demands.

More to the point, however, is that this whole conversation has been a concerted attempt to put Democrats on the defensive and move the narrative away from exposing the many-pronged Republican War on Women. In full alliance with Republican policies around the country, Romney wants to gut Planned Parenthood, vastly restrict abortion rights, shred the social safety net, and abolish the Affordable Care Act.  As for the newly-gained woman’s right to equal pay, he barely manages to promise not to abolish it. These positions have vastly eroded the former governor’s support among women, creating a flashing red light to his hopes for November. In response, Romney is struggling to convince the world how great his election would be for the ladies and what a big meanie Obama is. Maybe he should have stuck to the Olympics given how nimbly he twists himself into a pretzel.

Despite the current drama, Romney is about to enter a more promising period, probably the strongest in this election cycle, from May through August 2012. It is not impossible to imagine some stresses impacting our fragile recovery that the former governor opportunistically will use to justify his existence on the campaign trail. Largely benefiting him will be the Venus station in May which will square his Sun twice (21Pisces11) and sesquisquare his Venus (8 Aquarius33) for a prolonged period. This will be followed by transiting Jupiter opposite his Moon/Jupiter conjunction (27 Scorpio33/36) in late May and early June and conjunct his Ascendant (00Gemini43) in mid-June, as well as several days of transiting Venus trine natal Venus later in the month. July and August will bring another series of small but uplifting transits: Jupiter conjunct the Node, Jupiter square Mars, Jupiter trine Venus, and Jupiter square Mercury, taking us to late August. In addition, Romney’s converse progressed Sun is currently conjunct his converse progressed Mars, becoming exact in August at 15Capricorn04, and giving Romney the increased aggression we have been witnessing. This will become increasingly less impactful in the fall as this aspect separates.

The effectiveness of Romney’s presidential campaign is likely to begin to decrease in September when the long Neptune station square to his Ascendant (00Gemini43) from late August through mid-December 2012 will be joined by a series of Saturn transits (sesquiquadrate Mercury, quincunx Ascendant, square Saturn, square the MC, sesquiquadrate the Sun, and square Venus). This deleterious combination of Neptune and Saturn suggests that Romney’s expectations will be disappointed, his dishonesty will be revealed, his errors will be noticeable and costly, and his reputation for being an untrustworthy chameleon will solidify. These difficulties will be followed by a long station of Saturn square to Romney’s 4^th House Pluto (11Leo22) from January through early March 2013, suggesting a profound inner struggle and possibly some depression.

The one anomalous period in all of this comes during and just after the election, from November 4 through November 12, when transiting Jupiter will be square to Romney’s Mercury (13Pisces55). This describes a few days of optimism and good feeling which seem not to match the difficult and waxing Saturn and Neptune combination that will unfold from November 12 onward. Perhaps the outcome of the election will be clear for a long time and Romney will be initially relieved when it is over. Perhaps, given the Mercury station on Election Day, the outcome will remain unclear, either at the presidential or the congressional level, until around November 12. But the overall astrological indicators, despite these few uplifting days, point to a time of difficulty, frustration, and loss that covers the final months of 2012 and the early months of 2013.

Here is a link to my interview on the internet radio show  Your Astrology Now.

The past several months have been relatively good ones for President Obama. His poll numbers have steadily risen, and his fiery speeches have been especially effective in framing the narrative. Meanwhile, with the economic recovery continuing to gather steam, the president’s Republican opponents have been busy tripping over each other to appeal to the most bizarre, right-wing fringe elements of their party. Steeped in the pervasive and unrelenting attitude of outrage and disdain they need to attract their base, these GOP candidates have sounded more like crotchety, complaining old scolds than statesmen. In their world, Morning in America has morphed into the Dark Night of the American Soul.

The president, on the other hand, has repeatedly given us his vision for America: a place where we support one another and attempt to level the playing field, thus enabling everyone the possibility of pursuing his or her goals. This stands as a counterpoint to the retro-frontier ideal favored by the Republicans, the “you are on your own” strategy where each of us succeeds or fails by our own choices, irrespective of income or education or opportunity. President Obama has appropriately called this a form of Social Darwinism, ironically brought to us by the party that rejects evolution.

With his progressed Sun square to natal Venus from later 2011 through June 2012, Obama’s support and popularity have been rising in recent months despite lingering unemployment and a rather anemic recovery. This aspect has given him a certain amount of Teflon protection and high likeability quotient despite the serial uproar of the news cycle. At the same time, many of his initiatives in the past two years have been thwarted by the Republicans in Congress – by abuse of the filibuster in the Senate and by the hyper-ideological Majority in the House.

The Republicans’ aim has been to kill any potential successes of the president shortly after conception (irony intended). Their ability to do this has been mirrored by the progression of Obama’s Mars square to his natal Saturn (25Capricorn20) which began in January 2011 and peaked in the first days of April 2012. This aspect, which describes the strong push to frustrate (Saturn) the president’s efforts (Mars) and his need to compromise significantly to get even small things accomplished is finally separating and thus diminishing in power. It will, however, be briefly strengthened by a square from transiting Saturn (25Libra) from April 14 to April 27, a time when we are likely to see his initiatives severely impeded in both domestic and foreign policy matters.

The president is now shifting into the heightened energy of his solar arc Mars square to natal Sun (12Leo33) which waxes in strength from April 2012 through April 2013 and will be joined by converse progressed Sun square natal Mars (22Virgo20) from late November 2012 through November 2013. These configurations suggest an increasingly muscular nineteen-month period that is less restrained by the political machinations of the president’s adversaries and more indicative of assertive and effective leadership. They also suggest a combative campaign and a potent beginning to a second term.

At present, the US is entering a difficult month, roughly from April 11 through May 15, during which the collective anxiety and upset are likely to rise, including fears that the recovery is stalling and that the world is increasingly dangerous. In the US chart, the progressed Moon will be moving into a conjunction with natal Saturn (14Libra48). This suggests a build-up of worry and possibly some grief over a particular circumstance. Already in the past week, we have seen the Stock Market go down and the jobs numbers disappoint. This trend may continue through mid-May. In addition, transiting Saturn will be making its second square to US Mercury (24Cancer12) from April 28 through May 13, pointing to some complications with transportation, communications, and trade during the first half of May.

The first half of May also brings with it the transit of Mars quincunx transiting Uranus (5/2 to 5/9) simultaneous to Mars’ last crossing of Obama’s Pluto (6Virgo59), as well as Mars squaring US natal and progressed Uranus (7 to 8Gemini55) from May 4 to May 15. These aspects suggest some kind of heightened aggression or highly volatile event that will coincide with some element of upset or grief in the US (pr US Moon conjunct Saturn and transiting Saturn square natal US Mercury). With the long Saturn station from May through July 2012 adversely impacting the charts of Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano (Venus at 23Capricorn52), Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Moon at 22Pisces50), and National Security Adviser Tom Donilon (Venus at 24Aries05 and the Sun at 23Taurus04), we can expect some kind of aggravated national security/diplomatic concern that continues for a few months, although the highly-stressed national dialogue about it may diminish considerably after mid-May.

The long, drawn out war over health care that we were subjected to before the passage of the Affordable Care Act has been resurrected. One might think we were having a collective relapse of the flu: our fever has spiked, our irritability has increased, and misery abounds. Unfortunately, there is no treatment for this pre-existing condition.

Early last week, the Supreme Court spent three days tackling the constitutionality of the new Health Care law. Or at least that is what we were told. In reality, it was yet another proxy war in the right-wing’s attempt to discredit and ultimately unseat our first African American president, as well as retrieve their vision of a White Christian nation imbued with a screechingly triumphal self-absorption.  Once again, a policy that was created by and largely supported by Republicans for years – in this case the individual mandate – morphed into a dire, almost treasonous threat to the future of America when espoused by Barrack Obama. With characteristic shamelessness, the Republicans tossed integrity to the wind and twisted both fact and rationality to align with a power-hungry political agenda.

The pundits, of course, are like rabid, hungry wolves circling this story. With gleeful abandon, they discuss how President Obama’s most significant legislative victory will be declared unconstitutional and torn asunder, rendering him weak and vulnerable in the fall campaign. They examine every utterance of the justices to add fuel to their hyperbolic bonfire.

The astrological indicators on this issue, however, tell a different tale. At the end of March, the president was just coming out of a progression of his Moon quincunx natal Pluto, activating his natal Moon/Pluto square, and bringing him the subjective experience of an intense struggle against potent and intractable foes. In addition, the last six days of March brought a Uranus/Mars quincunx which added to the general level of agitation and anger, thus contributing to the irritable national mood around the resurrected health care debate.

If we look at the chart for the Affordable Care Act, things become even more interesting. This legislation was signed into law on March 23, 2010, at 11:55 AM. In it, we find a grand cross that also falls on the horizon line of the chart. This describes legislation that was profoundly transformative (Pluto) but, at the same time, conscientiously kept within the tight the restrictive bounds (Saturn) of what was possible, as well as struggling to maintain the delicate balance of including the people’s needs (the Moon) and the president’s objectives (the Sun).

In progressing the chart, we find that the progressed health Care Sun (5Aries) has moved to an exact square with natal Pluto (5Capricorn21) from September 2011 through most of September 2012. This indicates the pitched battle for survival that this law is now undergoing.  Moreover, the huge power struggle described by the Sun/Pluto square has been activated by transiting Uranus (5Aries) conjunct progressed Sun and square natal Pluto from March 21 through April 8, and was further triggered by transiting Mars (5Virgo) trine natal Pluto during the days of the Supreme Court hearings. Furthermore, the progressed health care Moon (5Leo) will be quincunx natal Pluto from April 7 through May 4, suggesting that the shrill intensity of the debate will continue for the next month.

A look at the planets during the end of June suggests that the majority Supreme Court opinion that will emerge from this beleaguered process is likely to be largely in the president’s favor. Certainly, the period from June 20 through early June 26, during which transiting Jupiter will be conjunct Obama’s Moon (3Gemini21), looks extremely uplifting and successful for him. Friday, June 22, should the decision come on that day, is particularly positive with the transiting Sun conjunct the president’s Venus (1Cancer47), just as his progressed Sun culminates in its square to that point. If the opinion comes in the final few days of the month, there is still nothing in President Obama’s chart to point to an upset.

Rather significantly, the progressed Health Care Sun (5Aries) will continue to be square Health Care Pluto (5Capricorn21) through September 2012, and transiting Uranus will return to square Health Care Pluto and conjunct progressed Health Care Sun during all of October and again from mid-December 2012 through January 2013. This prolongation of the power struggle inherent in the health care law suggests two things. The first is that the assault on this legislation will continue to be fiercely waged during the 2012 election campaign. The second is that the Supreme Court, in a game of political hot potato, may throw the law back to Congress for further refinement on at least a few points. The Uranus station on Health Care Pluto in December 2012 and January 2013 indicates that the health care battle may continue to be waged in the post-election Congress. Given the planetary lineup in December (to be discussed fully at a later date), this could develop into a huge confrontation.

One of the biggest shifts in the modern world, growing exponentially during the past year, has been the burgeoning potency of People Power. Of course, there have always been demonstrations, and sometimes even riots, to protest the unjust policies of the strong and well-connected. But these brief moments of citizen outrage only infrequently engendered real change. More commonly, a few paragraphs might be allotted in the local or even national newspapers, and then the story would vanish from the face of the Earth, as if it had never been.

With the advancements of recent communications technology, however, there has been a revolutionary tipping of the scales toward the masses, a sea-change in both reach and effectiveness when the many choose to push back against the agenda of the few. In numerous situations in the past year, twitter, Facebook, the blogs, and cable news were effectively harnessed by inspired citizens to generate huge protests of significant clout and duration. In the US, we have seen Bank of America back down from newly-instigated fees, Occupy Wall Street change the narrative about wealth in the country, hundreds of sponsors flee from Rush Limbaugh, recall elections take hold in Wisconsin, and, currently, a fury sweeping the nation that is forcing federal, state, and local investigations into the murder of Trayvon Martin. In Northern Africa and the Middle East, we have seen governments overthrown and dictators toppled because the people in those beleaguered nations were able to stay connected and support each other through twitter, cell phones, and Facebook. It seems clear that with these profound developments in social media and technology, the balance of power in our world will never be the same.

In astrology, Uranus is the planet of swift transformation, when a moment of awakening leads to an entirely new path forward. Traditionally, it is also known as the “higher octave of Mercury”, thus taking the realm of communication, Mercury’s domain, to the lightning speed of modern technology. Uranus, as the ruler of Aquarius, further signifies bringing diverse people together for a common purpose while based in the precepts of equality and freedom. It is not inconsequential that this planet was discovered in 1781, in synchronicity with the birth of the United States and the French Revolution.

Briefly, in the summer of 2010 and then fully as of March 2011, Uranus moved into Aries, the first sign of the zodiac. Thus began an entirely new 84-year cycle in how the Uranian energy would manifest, heralding a paradigm shift in the world of technology and communications and how people would work together for common cause.

But Uranus is not only in the early degrees of Aries. It is moving relentlessly into its first quarter square with Pluto, most potent from 2011 through 2015. This most recent chapter of the Uranus/Pluto cycle may be understood by a look back at its birth in the 1960’s, the time of the conjunction of these two behemoths and a period of great tumult and transformation throughout the world. In the US, this planetary configuration brought with it the Great Society of President Lyndon Johnson, which included the Voting Rights Act and other civil rights legislation, as well as the birth of Medicare and Medicaid. Also born under the umbrella of the 1960’s Uranus/Pluto conjunction was the Women’s Movement, including the first widespread use of birth control pills (originally approved in 1960) and, towards the end of this time of ferment, the legalization of abortion (Roe v. Wade 1973). The politicization of an entire generation due to the anti-Vietnam War Movement was additionally of great significance in that era.

Almost all of these issues are being revisited today, but with the benefit of nearly 50 years of societal evolution, as the Uranus/Pluto cycle now builds into the high tension of its first quarter square. The voting rights of minorities, students, and the elderly have been challenged in numerous states with new voting laws;  conservative state governments have attempted to limit contraception and abortion;  House Republican legislators have passed budgets that would greatly weaken, if not dismantle, Medicaid and Medicare as we know it; and most recently,  the death of an innocent black teenager has sparked national outrage over racial profiling and callous police dismissiveness of the murder.

In every one of these circumstances, the equality and freedom-minded grass roots movements (Uranus), aided by the revolutionary advances in social media (Uranus in Aries), are vehemently pushing back against those who want to dominate and control (Pluto), using hidden reservoirs of money (Pluto), and often inspired by a fanatical agenda (Pluto). These and related stories will continue to swamp the national dialogue and create a massive public outcry during the coming four years as the epic struggle designated by the square between Uranus and Pluto continues to unfold.

While America is transfixed by the reality-show buffoonery of its own presidential primary season, there is another election drama unfolding across the Atlantic. In France, center-Right President Nicolas Sarkozy is running for reelection and is currently trailing the moderate Socialist candidate Francois Hollande. The first contest, in which several candidates will compete, will take place on April 25. The second round of voting, which will be a run-off between the top two contenders of the first round – expected to be Sarkozy and Hollande – will take place on May 5.

Sarkozy stands with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, another center-Right politician, in promoting tough austerity measures to save the euro. Hollande, on the other hand, has argued that such budget slashing weakens growth in an already-frail economic climate. He calls for substantially higher taxes on the very rich and favors a generally more expansionist government. Much of this Left-Right framing transcends national boundaries and is pervasive throughout Europe. It is also quite familiar to Americans, although the more bizarre edges of modern US politics seem to be missing. The French, after all, are not arguing about contraception.

From what I can surmise looking at the astrological data, it seems very likely that Sarkozy will win another term, despite the current polling. Hollande will have transiting Saturn crossing his natal Neptune from election day throughout May, a sign of disappointment and loss. Sarkozy, on the other hand, will be under numerous Venus and Jupiter transits during May, which, taken together, suggest an ebullient mood and a feeling of success and contentment. In his chart (1/28/55, at 10 PM, Paris) during and just after the election, we find transiting Jupiter quincunx Venus, semisquare the Moon, and sextile Jupiter, with a slow-moving, transiting Venus sesquiquadrate the Sun and opposite Venus. His wife, Carla Bruni (12/23/67, at 6:10 PM, Turin, Italy) will also be enjoying both Venus and Jupiter in aspect to her natal Moon/Pluto conjunction during the same period.

Candidates who spew a cloud of gloomy complaining and criticism are usually a real turn off to voters, except to those who want to join in the angry misery.  And this is the conundrum for the current crop of GOP presidential aspirants. The base is addicted to outrage, needing to voraciously feed on a continual stream of infuriating grievance, no matter how nonsensical, to keep them involved. But the rest of the country, tired of governmental dysfunction, partisan flame wars, and an anemic economy, wants practical solutions and a vision of a hopeful, reachable future. The fear among Republican strategists, at least those still tied to reality, is that the champion of this feeding frenzy may well win the primaries but could doom himself in the general election.

Currently, the tediously sanctimonious Rick Santorum is building in momentum among the conservative fringe of the party. Were it not for the delusionally self-important Newt Gingrich siphoning off a big chunk of voters in every competition, Santorum would likely have won the all-important Ohio primary, as well as various other contests on Super Tuesday. This would have completely upended the trajectory of the race.

Even with Gingrich remaining on the ballot, however, Santorum continues to be a threat to Mitt Romney, if not in terms of the ultimate outcome, in forcing the continuation of a lengthy, costly, and damaging battle. Romney is being pushed further and further to the right, to the most extreme and belligerent positions possible, in order to compete in the primaries and ultimately close the deal.

Two of the next contests, on March 13, will take place on Southern turf, an area far more friendly to Gingrich than Romney or Santorum. At the moment, there is a three-way tie in the polls in Alabama, with Gingrich ahead in Mississippi.   Indications are that Gingrich is likely to do well, but not well enough. The Sun, Venus, and Jupiter will be aspecting his Moon (25Sagittarius11) for this contest, but this configuration will also be activating his progressed Saturn which is in a long opposition to his Moon, making any victory bittersweet at best. On the other hand, Santorum looks like he will do quite well on March 13, with a slow-moving Mercury crossing his Venus (5Aries44), the Sun quincunx his Jupiter (23Libra58), and Jupiter sextile his Mars (10Pisces00). Romney’s aspects hardly register.

Moving further into March, we begin to see the end of Gingrich, despite his current protestations to the contrary. After March 21, it will be increasingly downhill and pointless for him to continue. Perhaps his billionaire slush fund will give out around that time.

Santorum seems likely to keep up a strong fight through April 28. The first half of April, with Uranus conjunct his Venus (5Aries44) is likely to be quite dramatic, and perhaps the peak of his popularity.  April 24 through April 28 will also bring a brief burst of success with Jupiter conjunct his Sun (19Taurus31). By May, however, things will rapidly unravel for him. Saturn will oppose his Mercury (24Aries06) and conjunct his Jupiter (23Libra58). Nothing suggests he will come back into any real competition from then on, unless he is chosen as the vice presidential candidate, a possibility due to Uranus returning to his Venus in late September and October.

As for Romney, the worst is behind him now, until the campaign goes into full swing in late August and beyond. The Neptune square to his Ascendant (00Gemini43) has moved past exact, with its deleterious influence on the back burner until late August through mid-December.  This configuration highlights Romney’s shifting stances on issues, his chameleon-like character, and his bumbling, clueless gaffes. The long and frustrating two-month siege of Saturn sesquiquadrate his Mercury (13Pisces55) is now also past, as of March 3.

Although Santorum may keep the pressure on through April, with Romney’s tertiary Sun square natal Pluto that month, consolidation of the nomination seems quite likely in May, as Santorum’s star begins to fade and a slow-moving Venus aspects Romney’s Sun and Venus for much of the month. The sweep of Saturn transits in Romney’s chart (quincunx Ascendant, semisquare Uranus, square Saturn, quincunx Node, sesquiquadrate Sun, square MC, square Venus, and square Pluto)  from October 2012 through early March 2013, suggest a beleaguered and failed candidate during the height of election season and through the turn of the year.