The financial forecast under News warns of a possible “double dip recession” or at least an economic correction near August 2011. There was indeed a severe drop in stock prices beginning in August, then came the impasse over raising the debt limit. This critical political clash between the President and Republican leaders threatens to plunge the nation into a “debtor class” and further erode the economic recovery. Heightening this fear is the continuing European Union debt crisis involving Greece, Italy, Spain, and potentially other countries.

We are at a very historical crossroads! 2011 is a Jupiter year according to my Diurnal Planet for a Year Progression method. Jupiter (money, power, prestige) is in conjunction with the Sun (President) in the U.S. horoscope. So Obama is playing a leading role in this budget negotiation with his political counterparts in the Republican majority House. The stakes could not be any higher and, again, astrology reveals why. Jupiter of big money and influence is in conjunction with the Sun (major leaders and owners). This conjunction is one symbol of our nation’s greatness and leadership potential. It also signifies (at least during Jupiter diurnal planet progression years and years when slow moving transits like Pluto make aspects to natal Jupiter) presidents with grandiose visions and plans, progressives, like Obama and Woodrow Wilson. It was a Jupiter year in 1913 when the 16th Amendment was signed instituting the national income tax. The battle today between the Democrats who want to raise taxes and cut some expenditures and the Republicans who want no tax increases but many expenditure reductions is reminiscent of this earlier time.

If you read the financial forecast under News, you will notice the monthly retrograde transit of Pluto to the U.S. Jupiter that peaks July 11, 2011. This is followed by a double Saturn cycle in August, one of which is the third and final Saturn return (another one will occur in about 28-30 years). Saturn is depression, loss, mistakes, and restrictions on the negative level. We cannot afford to default on the national debt. A default may still come near 2015. But this time I believe we will avert it. Mars goes over the Midheaven July 24 indicating a new goal and direction. Our national cycles turn favorable early in August until the double Saturn peaks on the 25th and 28th of the month. Transiting Pluto turns direct September 16 and makes its last opposition (and aspect for several decades) with our Jupiter on November 18. This should be a time of exuberance and a financial rally – a rather sharp upturn at that. As Pluto goes direct in September Congress will address the next round of deficit cuts and, hopefully, will revamp of the tax code. The 21-year transit of Uranus will retrograde square our Venus in September as well. This points to a contentious but deal making period between the parties. The economy should, therefore, rebound significantly from September 16 onward.

Pluto as a transit was in conjunction with our natal Jupiter in five phases from 1918-1920. The exact peaks of these five monthly cycles are: 8/2/1918; 12/14/1918; 6/17/1919; 2/16/1920; and 4/21/1020. The United States was fully committed to the war in Europe. Taxes were raised to fund wartime production. The Sabotage Act and the Sedition Act are passed; the latter broadens the Espionage Act of 1917 by defining as criminal the direct advocacy of treason and criticism of the Government. Two thousand people were prosecuted. The postmaster general banned the mailing of a variety of liberal, socialist and radical publications. The Justice Department rounded up and arrested labor organizers. Vigilantes attacked innocent people for being German-American. Austerity measures were enacted. Other Federal laws were drawn up that influenced all manor of production, commerce, and social activity – President Wilson signed in Nov. 1918 a temporary prohibition act. The League of Nations Covenant was presented by Wilson but is not ratified by Congress. This League of Nations, however, eventually leads to the birth of the United Nations. Note also that women got the right to vote in 1920. Another first in 1920 was that people got to hear the election results on radios. We can expect more people to be involved in the political process this year as a result of the current Pluto/Jupiter transit. A rallying cry from the Republicans in the 2012 election bid is apt to reflect the past candidate and 1920 president Warren G. Harding’s campaign pledge of a “return to normalcy.”

The square of transiting Pluto to our Jupiter took place in late 1973-1974. This was during the Watergate mess, the Vice President Spiro Agnew resignation, and Richard Nixon’s impeachment and resignation. The square in this case represents the “low water mark” for the presidency and not the expansionism and progressive ideas observed during the conjunction and opposition. A moment’s reflection on these past developments helps to frame the importance of this grand 63-year transit to Jupiter (Pluto makes a hard angle - 0, 90, and 180-degree – aspect with the same natal planet every 63-years).

The European Union debt problem is also playing into the global financial meltdown that started with America’s Great Recession of 2008. Taking a look at the U.S. horoscope relocation lines for Europe (where the planets were on the horizon and meridian throughout the world at the time of America’s Declaration of Independence) and Uranus plays significantly. Uranus on the Descendant of other people runs very near Tripoli, Libya and touches the heel of Italy before moving upward through eastern Yugoslavia and western Romania. America’s Uranus line curves through Europe proper. This double Uranian influence implies that the U.S. will always be involved with European independence. Our individual initiatives and technology have and will drive Europe to do the same. We are, after all, the outcasts and reformers that left Europe. Uranus, however, has an unpredictable character. Uranus on a negative basis is radical, disruptive, rebellious, and totally chaotic. Our view of the French Revolution, Napoleon’s reign, the World Wars, the Cold War, the United Nations, and now the EU likely reflect uncertainty, excitement, and hope for progress. But we will remain for them independent drivers of change.