December 25, 2000
O'Neill Selected for Treasury Post
President-elect Bush's choice to head his economic plan will be Paul O'Neill,
the retiring chairman of Alcoa and a former colleague of Fed Chairman Alan
Greenspan. If confirmed by the Senate, O'Neill will become the Secretary of
Treasury and will engineer Bush's proposed $1.3 trillion tax cut over the
next ten years.
As a Sagittarius with his Sun perfectly aligned with the coming Saturn-Pluto
opposition, O'Neill (b. December 5, 1935; St. Louis; time unknown) will
certainly have his work cut out for him. As discussed in last week's
NewsScope, transiting Saturn and Pluto will be forming a challenging aspect
in 2000 and continuing through 2002, a celestial formation increasing the
likelihood of a recession. Bush cited a possible economic turndown as a
compelling reason to pick O'Neill.
Another astrological factor to watch in 2000 is the path of Mars. Mars will
remain in Sagittarius from mid-February through the first week of September,
an unusually extended phase due to its periodic retrograde cycle. Following
the astrological aphorism that "planets are people," Mars in Sagittarius is
being personified by Sagittarian Paul O'Neill.
In the U.S. Scorpio Rising horoscope, Mars will be spending most of 2000 in
the second house of financial resources. Mars is the action planet, the
promoter, and the one who cuts. We can expect O'Neill to be actively pursuing
a $1.3 trillion tax cut to stimulate the economy. But Mars runs into trouble
when it repeatedly hits Saturn and then Pluto, and also becomes less
effective when retrograde. Political realities will eventually force Bush to
drastically modify his campaign promise to cut taxes.
Organic: What's in a Name?
Last Wednesday the Agriculture Department announced national standards for
the labeling and processing of organic foods. The organic food industry has
soared in popularity over the past decade, increasing 20 percent each year
since 1990, and reaching $6 billion last year.
The asteroid Ceres governs the food industry especially as it relates to
ecology and organic farming. The long, hard-fought process of determining
exactly what constitutes "organic" can be seen in the cycle of Ceres and her
nemesis, Pluto. In the ancient mythology of Ceres, Pluto plays a kidnapper,
and the hostile encounter between Ceres and Pluto then can be seen in today's
events.
On December 16, 1997 the Agriculture Department arrived at an initial
definition of what constitutes "organic." At the time transiting Ceres was
in Pisces, exactly conjunct its natal position in the U.S. horoscope,
indicating a new beginning for these kinds of food products. However,
transiting Pluto was squaring Ceres (both natal Ceres and transiting Ceres),
showing that the ruling was tainted.
The Department, bowing to corporate pressure, had proposed to allow
irradiated foods, biotechnology, and sewer sludge as fertilizer. Over the
next few months consumers expressed their outrage through an unprecedented
number of critical letters, faxes, and emails. Secretary of Agriculture Dan
Glickman retracted the ruling, and not until last week were consumers and
organic farmers fully satisfied. Last week transiting Ceres and Pluto were
conjunct, reflecting the popular acceptance of the new standards.
Hillary Signs $8 Million Book Deal
Hillary Rodham Clinton agreed to accept $8 million for her White House
memoirs, the highest advance ever paid to a member of Congress. In
comparison, the record non-fiction advance was $8.5 million for Pope John
Paul's book, while the Senator she is replacing, Daniel Moynihan, received
$944.68 in royalties last year from his 18 scholarly books.
As a celebrity politician, Clinton (October 26, 1947; 8:00 pm; Chicago) is
well placed to cash in on her story, but her astrological profile reflects
this money-making tendency. A lucky Grand Trine can be found to boost her
financial circumstances. Prosperous Jupiter in the sixth house of work is
conjunct the Part of Fortune and beneficially trine her Moon in the tenth
house of reputation and career.
The asteroid Vesta completes the Grand Trine and is found in the second house
of money. Vesta's location shows where one is devoted, where one can focus,
and apply a sense of sacred duty. Vesta here is in the sign of Cancer, and
since the second house also describes our personal values, Vesta shows
Hillary's deference to "family values,' the subject of her two previous
books.
Vesta in Cancer in the second house further describes Hillary's investment in
homes. She plans on paying down the mortgage on her New York mansion, and has
been eyeing a $4 million mansion in Georgetown, just a few blocks away from
the White House. As one pundit put it, just as the Bushes bided their time in
Texas to reclaim the White House, now she and Bill lurk nearby "plotting to
take the White House from the Bushes."
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