(19 July 2017) The besieged Trump administration suffered another setback this week as the Senate health care bill failed to come to a vote.  Despite taking extra time during the early July break, Mitch McConnell’s Republicans could not find the 50 votes to get it passed.  The failure highlights the divisions in the GOP and the inability of President Donald Trump to bring together the moderate and far right wings in the party. 

This latest failure may also be seen as a consequence of the difficult transit of Mars through sidereal Cancer in Trump’s 12th house of loss.  As noted last week, Mars entered Trump’s 12th whole sign house (as per standard Vedic astrology parameters) on July 11th just as the scandal involving a meeting between his son and the Russians exploded in the media.  The health care morass indicates that Mars is continuing to undermine Trump’s hopes and ambitions.   Mars will remain in the sign of Cancer until August 26th and could therefore exert an extended negative influence on Trump.  With Saturn stationing on his volatile Moon-Ketu conjunction (and Rahu aspecting it also) also through that time, the summer looks pretty stressful for him. 

After years of talking up its plan to "repeal and replace" Obamacare, the GOP looks lost at the moment as it will try to regroup and find a new path on health care.  As I noted back in March, I think the GOP will have a better opportunity to realize its campaign promise next year as the Obamacare horoscope looks more difficult in 2018.  This would suggest that Obamacare is more likely to not only be repealed by 2018 but also replaced with a new plan. 

The difficulty for the Obamacare horoscope (March 23, 2010) is that Saturn is due to transit the first half of Sagittarius (i.e. the 7th house) throughout 2018.  This transit will therefore oppose both the Moon and the Ascendant.  This double dose of Saturn is rarely a positive influence in any chart.  Additional tense transits such as the square of Uranus and Mars and the conjunction of Rahu to Mars transit underline the severity of the stresses upon Obamacare.  I would think there is a high likelihood that it will be mostly or completely replaced by the midterm elections in November 2018. 

I had wondered if the GOP might be able to get something done here, however.  In a June post, I noted that there were some noteworthy planetary aspects in the charts of the principals as well as some significant troubles in the Obamacare chart.  Mostly,  I was seeing a lot of tension from the upcoming Saturn-Rahu alignment in August as well as the more immediate Sun-Mars conjunction this week (July 21-22).  The Sun-Mars conjunction hits the Obamacare Mars at 7 Cancer almost exactly.  This may not always be a negative development although it usually indicates stressful situations at the very least.  Could Trump and the GOP pull a rabbit out of the hat at the end of this week and somehow claim at least a symbolic victory?  It’s possible but I wouldn’t bet on it either.  The planetary picture is not straight forward.

Coincidentally, the Sun-Mars conjunction occurs right on the 12th house cusp of Donald Trump.  This is usually more difficult given the 12th house’s association with losses and punishments.  It is very hard to think of this as an astrological signature of a "win" such as he would claim for even a partial repeal of Obamacare.  And yet the near-simultaneity of the transit to key points in both charts suggests a possible linkage.  Maybe Trump does something unexpected that exacerbates the health care stalemate. 

The importance of this week’s Sun-Mars conjunction also shows up on the PEOTUS chart as an opposition to the natal Mars at 6 Capricorn.  This is closest on Friday and Saturday.  The aspect to Mars symbolizes strife and conflict, perhaps even violence.  The November 9th PEOTUS horoscope ought to be a reference for all matters that occur during Trump’s term as president.  It could even represent events that do not involve him personally, although I would think it is more likely to symbolize events that pertain directly to him. 

The late week Sun-Mars conjunction hints at the possibility that we could see another chapter in this endless political wrangling over health care in DC.  A full or even partial repeal seems unlikely but there could be some interesting developments that could have ramifications down the road.  But the bottom line is that while Obamacare should remain in place now, it will be in serious jeopardy next year.  Even Barack Obama’s horoscope is under heavy stress in September 2018 when Saturn stations direct opposite his Venus.  I wonder if his signature health care legislation will finally be superseded at that time.  Stay tuned.

Weekly Market Forecast

Investors shrugged off the GOP legislative failure as US stocks moved higher again this week.  The Dow is again approaching a new all-time high while the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ have already made new highs today.   Other markets have been more mixed.  India’s Sensex has essentially moved sideways over the past several sessions as it again finished above 32,000 on Wednesday. 

This outcome was in keeping with last Wednesday’s market forecast as I thought we could see some upside.  This week’s Venus-Jupiter aspect looked somewhat bullish as did last week’s Mercury-Jupiter alignment.

The rest of this week looks less positive, however, as the Moon and Venus oppose Saturn during the US trading day on Thursday.  The approach of the Sun-Mars conjunction next week also carries with it an added downside risk, especially in the first half of next week. 

For more details and analysis on market trends for this week, this month and this year, please check out my weekly MVA Investor Newsletter.  The newsletter is published every Saturday and includes extended discussion of US and Indian stock markets, as well as gold, oil and major currencies.