John Boehner's Political Apocalypse; the Secret of Oz

As far as one can tell, the Mayans were incorrect. With less than eight hours left in this winter solstice 21st day of December in the year 2012 (actually, it's already the 22nd in some parts of the world across the international time line), it's a safe bet that planet earth isn't going to meet up with a death star, tilt over on its axis or flip its poles in a magnetic firestorm.

Incidentally, in numerology, today's date is significant. The digits in 12/21/2012 reduce to 11, both a prime number and a master number in numerology, 11 is representative of great spiritual energy and a linking between mortal and immortal states. The Mayans may have been - according to their calendar supposedly ending on this date - predicting the end of an epoch, and the beginning of a great enlightenment.

Whether or not there's even a shred of believability in all of this Mayan "end of world" hysteria, simply the hope for change - to a more peaceful, spiritual existence -should suffice to empower some to good and better achievements.

For those who decry numerology as mere nonsense, one should be apprised that the most popular and widely-employed system was originated by none other than Pythagoras, who knew a bit about numbers, meaning and their relationship to our known existence.

In any case, life goes on unabated, though one could make a case that the evening of the 20th and the day of the 21st marked a personal political apocalypse for one John Boehner, Republican Speaker of the House, when he could not muster enough support from his caucus to pass his proposed Plan B spending and tax proposal last night in the US House of Representatives.

Around 7:30 pm Thursday night, a raucous meeting of the Republicans in the house adjourned with a lack of consensus on the Speaker's proposal and the measure was shelved, much to the dismay of Mr. Boehner, who has gotten nowhere in either negotiations with the president or within his own party.

The tightrope Mr. Boehner has been treading has developed either a knot or a twang, depending on one's own political outlook. In any case, Boehner's future as Speaker appears to be as much in doubt as his ability to harness his members to an agreement with the president on avoiding the fiscal cliff, the deadline for a solution now a mere ten days away.

So, while the world may not have ended today, in John Boehner's insular little world of Washington politics, it may seem like the end of the political road. That's how apocalypse usually works: bad for some, but not for all.

When the news hit that the Plan B measure would not come up for a vote in the House, along with a telling smirk on the face of Eric Cantor, the Marcus Junius Brutus to Boehner's status as Julius Caesar, futures took a nose-dive, Dow futures plummeting to more than -200 in a matter of minutes.

Cantor, incidentally, the House Majority Leader, has eyes on the Speaker's office, and while modern day politics may be more civilized than what took place in Roman forums, political assassinations can be easily more painful than actual ones. The knife is turned more slowly in the modern world.

Markets were not pleased when they opened this morning, though after the initial selloff, the decline was very limited, with stocks trading in a tight lower range throughout the day. There was little of the expected quadruple-witching volatility after the initial thrust lower, probably something to be expected with the algo-crunching computers in charge of the bulk of trading.

While volume was elevated, it was not outstanding and the end results of the trading day were hardly cognizant of the turmoil on Capitol Hill. Wall Street still appears to be holding out hope for a happy ending to 2012 and a solution to the nation's fiscal issues. Good luck with that.

As this week comes to a melodramatic close, Monday will be a half day, with markets closing at 1:00 pm ET. Money daily will not post on that day, taking some needed time off for the holiday, unless there is some event worthy of memorializing.

One bit of business to attend to is contained in the video posted below, the exceptional, award-winning documentary exposing the secrets of L. Frank Baum's "The Wizard of Oz," which, though a best-selling children's book, years later adapted for the big screen starring July Garland as Dorothy, the story was a scathing riposte of the banking system and a searing critique of the frailty of government.

Well worth the viewing time, if you do nothing else at all to educate yourself on the truth about fractional reserve banking and politics, this is must viewing.



Happy Holidays, and Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

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