With Scorpio Rising, Pluto becomes the nation's ruling planet. Pluto is located in the third house, and thereby defines where the country finds its dominant strengths: mass media, transportation and communication systems, computer and information technologies, and the innate intellectual power of its founding Declaration. America's plutocrats largely got that way from their superiority in mastering third house affairs. The original billionaires were railroad and canal builders. Then came the automobile magnates, such as Henry Ford. Most recently, it's Bill Gates who understood and built his financial empire by linking microprocessors with graphic interfaces.
Pluto, the Ruling Planet
As the nation's ruler, the most important changes happen when transiting Pluto is active, either by transit or as the recipient of major transits or progressions.
Pluto in 3rd:

When Scorpio is the rising sign, the Eagle becomes the natural symbol for the inherent power of this country. Pluto, the ruler of the Scorpio Ascendant, is in the third
house, showing that third house affairs will be where this country finds and expresses its power. Third house affairs include the transportation and telecommunications industries, and in military affairs, includes the power over the airways. America reigns supreme over the skies due to its immense armada of aircraft and accompanying weaponry. Like the Eagle, the United States military can see the smallest details from vast distances, an attribute of the network of spy satellites circling the globe, and equipped with super-telescopes and cameras. Like the Eagle, U.S. military intelligence can see the dirt under your fingernails from three miles above the ground.

Natally, Pluto is in Capricorn, a theme which parallels transiting Pluto to the Midheaven. The tendency is to accumulate power through unyielding corporate and
government structures. Pluto in Capricorn is, in its essence, totalitarian, but the founding fathers mistrusted power, and saw to it that power was shared, or balanced between several institutions. 

Pluto in the third house (akin to Gemini) represents the multiple faces of power, which initially was divided between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of
government. Pluto in the third house also represents the two, and sometimes three-party system from which political candidates are selected. In cloning the democratic-capitalist system to other nations, American planners insist on a multiple party system. For the United States, with the ruler of its chart in the third house, this is natural, but other developing countries frequently have a difficult time with this setup. The very nature of power wants to circumvent anything which would infringe on its control. In Mexico, Japan, and many Latin American countries, power is either controlled by one dominant political party, or through the military rulers. 

In the United States, the three government branches was a good idea, but since the end of World War II, the dominance of corporate power has diverted actual policy from public debate. Today, although the three branches of government have residual power, their overall effect is relatively marginal when compared to the effect that the media, corporate lobbyists, and entrenched bureaucracies have on public policy. America has become a business-run society, and both the political parties have reflected business interests throughout the twentieth century. In accordance with a Scorpio Ascendant and four planets in the eighth house, American politics is actually governed by coalitions of investors grouped around common agendas. Participation in public policy means owning enough resources and private power to be a part of such coalitions.

Corporate power in this country originated in third house affairs. The American plutocracy found its wealth by building the communication and transportation links
across the country. Transiting Uranus has visitied America's third house three times since the Declaration of Independence, and each time corresponded to a technological revolution. The first came in the 1830s during the railroad and canal boom. When manufacturing centers in the large cities were connected to the abundant resources from the hinterlands, America's economy propelled forward. Then in the early 1900s came the automobile and airplane, with manufacturing geniuses such as Henry Ford leading the way. The businessmen who built the canals, railroads, telegraphs, automobiles, radios, televisions, and newspapers became fabulously wealthy. Finally, in the 1990s, with transiting Uranus and Neptune activated Pluto, the latest third house industry became telecommunications. The computer, telephone, fax machine, and television are fusing under a variety of high-tech vehicles, enabling consumers to cruise comfortably along the Information Superhighway. 

The third house in geopolitical astrology refers not only to the physical transportation and communication links, but also the actual commerce and trade that is made possible. Transiting Uranus and Neptune to the U.S. Pluto brought important international treaties designed to further the aims of America's business community. NAFTA and GATT were both passed under the banners of "Free Trade," to link foreign and domestic markets. When these trade routes are threatened, as they were when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in August 1990, American military might awakens to full force. Iraq's potential control of the Middle East's valuable oil reserves could not be tolerated. The counterattack began on January 17, 1991 when transiting Saturn was exactly conjunct the U.S. Pluto.

Mercury/Pluto axis

Natally, Pluto lies opposite Mercury, located at 24° Cancer. The Mercury-Pluto opposition in the U.S. chart describes a critical power zone, which extends from 24° to 27° of cardinal signs. When the outer planets enter this zone, power struggles tend to dominate the news. Political parties promote radical change, and extremist elements can gain the upper hand. Transiting Uranus in particular can bring radical party politics and sudden reversals of fortune. In 1954, when transiting Uranus in Cancer entered the Mercury-Pluto axis, Senator Joseph McCarthy led a Congressional investigation into communist influence over the armed forces, a shameful era which has since been branded a sensationalist witch hunt. In 1974, when transiting Uranus was in Libra, and squaring the Mercury-Pluto axis, Richard Nixon fought prosecutors and growing public disillusionment over Watergate tapes. Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974 when transiting Uranus was exactly (to the minute) square natal Mercury. 

When transiting Uranus in Capricorn entered this power zone in 1994, President Clinton's popularity and governing ability was at an all time low. The November elections proved to be a landslide revolutionary turn to the Right, as Republicans gained control over both Congress and the Senate for the first time in 40 years (which was when Uranus had previously entered this Mercury-Pluto axis). Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America" became a literal translation of America's third house ruler. Also, as transiting Uranus was conjunct Pluto, Americans became transfixed by the "Trial of the Century," O.J. Simpson's spectacular media event. One Uranus cycle earlier, the country was equally mesmerized by what was then also called the "Trial of the Century," the anti-trust lawsuit against John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company 

The Mercury-Pluto axis defines, then, America's penchant for settling disputes through the justice system (ninth house). Mercury-Pluto aspects love to split hairs, are great at investigative reporting, and are capable of finding meaning in the most convoluted logic imaginable. These are the mental tools of the legal profession, and America has by far more lawyers per capita then any other nation. The U.S. Mercury/Pluto axis is America's need to know. It's the intelligence information network, the power of the media, and the endless legal battles and search for justice which is the hallmark of the American way. Mercury/Pluto is also the impetus behind all the conspiracy theories, the endless probing for facts and the relentless quest for a smoking gun which would prove guilt. Mercury/Pluto can be obsessively intrusive in its need to know, and compulsively focused on trivial minutia, all backed by an inherent awareness of powerful enemies. Mercury-Pluto fosters the most pervasive espionage system in the world. At its worst, Mercury/Pluto is associated with paranoia. At its best, it's the psychological readiness that George Washington spoke of when he said that "eternal vigilance is the price of peace."  
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