1980s
The 1980s contain 161 verified events in the Capture Cascade Timeline.
Activity over time
Events per year
| Date | Event | Lanes | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989-12-20 | U.S. Invades Panama to Capture Former CIA Asset Manuel Noriega
3 src George H.W. Bush · Manuel Noriega | confirmed | |
| 1989-09-25 | Christian Coalition Founded - Grassroots Religious Right Electoral Infrastructure
3 src Pat Robertson · Ralph Reed · Christian Coalition | confirmed | |
| 1989-08-09 | FIRREA Signed: $160 Billion Taxpayer Bailout of S&L Industry Fraud
4 src George H.W. Bush · U.S. Congress · Resolution Trust Corporation · Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation | confirmed | |
| 1989-05-25 | Reagan HUD Scandal Exposed, Samuel Pierce Influence Peddling Investigation
3 src Samuel Pierce · Deborah Gore Dean · James Watt · Thomas Demery · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1989-05-04 | Oliver North Convicted of Iran-Contra Felonies, Later Overturned on Immunity
3 src Oliver North · Gerhard Gesell · Lawrence Walsh | confirmed | |
| 1989-05-01 | Trump Demands Death Penalty in $85,000 Ads Against Central Park Five
3 src Donald Trump · Yusef Salaam · Korey Wise · Antron McCray · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1989-04-14 | Lincoln Savings Collapse: $3.4 Billion Taxpayer Bailout
5 src Lincoln Savings and Loan · American Continental Corporation · Charles Keating · Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1989-04-14 | Senate Ethics Committee Opens Keating Five Investigation
3 src John McCain · John Glenn · Alan Cranston · Donald Riegle · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1989-03-24 | Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Triggers Corporate Campaign to Limit Pollution Liability
3 src Exxon Corporation · American Petroleum Institute · U.S. Supreme Court · Alaska Native communities · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1989-03-04 | Eastern Airlines Strike Leads to Corporate Liquidation, Frank Lorenzo's Union Destruction Model
3 src Eastern Airlines · Frank Lorenzo · International Association of Machinists · Air Line Pilots Association · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1989-02-09 | KKR's $31 Billion RJR Nabisco Leveraged Buyout Establishes Private Equity Wealth Extraction Model
3 src KKR · Henry Kravis · Ross Johnson · RJR Nabisco | confirmed | |
| 1989-01-20 | Reagan Leaves Office: Domestic Corruption and Policy Failure Legacy
3 src Ronald Reagan · George H.W. Bush · American public | confirmed | |
| 1989-01-01 | Executive Outcomes Founded in South Africa: First Modern Private Military Company Conducts Combat Operations
2 src Eeben Barlow · Executive Outcomes · Tony Buckingham · Simon Mann · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1989-01-01 | Federal Reserve Expands Section 20 Powers to Include Corporate Debt Securities
5 src Federal Reserve Board · JP Morgan & Co. · Section 20 subsidiaries | confirmed | |
| 1989-01-01 | Global Climate Coalition Formed to Coordinate Industry Climate Denial Campaign
17 src ExxonMobil · Shell · Chevron · Ford Motor Company · +4 | confirmed | |
| 1989-01-01 | S&L Industry Collapse: Over 1,000 Institutions Failed by 1989
3 src Savings and Loan institutions · Federal Home Loan Bank Board · Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation · Resolution Trust Corporation | confirmed | |
| 1988-12-01 | Silverado S&L Collapses: Neil Bush Conflict of Interest Costs Taxpayers $1 Billion
4 src Neil Bush · George H.W. Bush · Silverado Savings and Loan · Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1988-11-23 | IBP Settles Record OSHA Case for Systematic Injury Underreporting at Dakota City Meatpacking Plant
3 src IBP Inc. · Occupational Safety and Health Administration · United Food and Commercial Workers · Congressional Investigators | confirmed | |
| 1988-11-18 | Anti-Drug Abuse Act Creates "Aggravated Felony" Category, Merging War on Drugs with Deportation
3 src Ronald Reagan · U.S. Congress · Department of Justice · Immigration and Naturalization Service | confirmed | |
| 1988-09-21 | Bush Campaign Deploys Willie Horton Ad Weaponizing Racial Fear of Black Criminals
4 src George H.W. Bush · Lee Atwater · Roger Ailes · Larry McCarthy · +3 | confirmed | |
| 1988-08-12 | Duncan Campbell's New Statesman Article First Publicly Names ECHELON Surveillance Network
3 src Duncan Campbell · Margaret Newsham · Government Communications Headquarters · National Security Agency · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1988-08-04 | WARN Act Passes with Corporate Loopholes, Toothless Plant Closing Protection
3 src U.S. Congress · Ronald Reagan · U.S. Chamber of Commerce · AFL-CIO | confirmed | |
| 1988-08-01 | Rush Limbaugh National Syndication Begins - Conservative Talk Radio Ecosystem Created
3 src Rush Limbaugh · Edward F. McLaughlin · EFM Media Management · ABC Radio Network | confirmed | |
| 1988-08-01 | Wise Use Movement Founded as Industry-Funded Anti-Environmental Grassroots Campaign
6 src Ron Arnold · Alan Gottlieb · Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise · American Petroleum Institute · +3 | confirmed | |
| 1988-06-29 | Beck Decision Enables Workers to Withhold Union Dues for Political Activity, Weakening Labor Resources
3 src U.S. Supreme Court · Communications Workers of America · Harry Beck · National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation | confirmed | |
| 1988-06-29 | Morrison v. Olson: Scalia's Lone Dissent Articulates Unitary-Executive Theory That Becomes Movement Doctrine
3 src U.S. Supreme Court · William Rehnquist · Antonin Scalia · Theodore Olson · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1988-01-01 | Maxwell Acquires Macmillan Publishers, Expanding US Media Empire at Massive Cost
3 src Robert Maxwell · Macmillan Publishers · Berlitz International · Official Airline Guides | confirmed | |
| 1988-01-01 | S&L Crisis Prosecutions: 1,000+ Bankers Convicted, Contrasts Sharply with 2008
3 src Department of Justice · Federal Bureau of Investigation · Office of Thrift Supervision · S&L executives | confirmed | |
| 1987-12-01 | Keating Lincoln Savings Irvine Fraudulent Bond Scheme
4 src Charles H. Keating Jr. · Lincoln Savings and Loan Association | confirmed | |
| 1987-11-18 | Iran-Contra Minority Report: Cheney, Addington Lay Groundwork for Unitary-Executive Doctrine That Shapes Bush II and Trump II
3 src Dick Cheney · David Addington · Michael Malbin · Henry Hyde · +4 | confirmed | |
| 1987-10-23 | Senate Rejects Robert Bork Supreme Court Nomination 42-58, First Ideological Rejection in Nearly a Century
4 src Robert Bork · Ronald Reagan · Edward Kennedy · Lewis Powell · +5 | confirmed | |
| 1987-09-16 | Senate Resolution Acknowledges Haudenosaunee Influence on Constitution During Bicentennial Celebrations
2 src U.S. Senate · Haudenosaunee Confederacy · Six Nations | confirmed | |
| 1987-08-04 | Reagan FCC Abolishes Fairness Doctrine in 4-0 Vote, Eliminating Balanced Coverage Requirements for Broadcasters
6 src Dennis R. Patrick · Federal Communications Commission · Ronald Reagan · Mark S. Fowler · +4 | confirmed | |
| 1987-05-06 | CIA Director William Casey Dies Before Testifying on Iran-Contra Role
3 src William Casey · Ronald Reagan · Richard Secord | confirmed | |
| 1987-05-05 | Televised Iran-Contra Congressional Hearings Begin, Riveting Nation
3 src Oliver North · John Poindexter · George Shultz · Caspar Weinberger | confirmed | |
| 1987-04-01 | Federal Reserve Approves Section 20 Subsidiaries for JP Morgan, Citicorp, and Bankers Trust
3 src Federal Reserve Board · JP Morgan & Co. · Citicorp · Bankers Trust · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1987-04-01 | Keating Five Senators Pressure FHLBB to Halt Lincoln Investigation
4 src Alan Cranston · Dennis DeConcini · John Glenn · John McCain · +4 | confirmed | |
| 1987-02-26 | Tower Commission Report Released, Criticized as Whitewash of Iran-Contra
3 src Ronald Reagan · John Tower · Edmund Muskie · Brent Scowcroft · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1987-01-01 | AIDS Death Toll Reaches 25,000: Reagan Administration Inaction Continues
3 src Ronald Reagan · AIDS patients · LGBTQ community · Public health officials · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1987-01-01 | Cato Institute Organizational Profile: 'Libertarian' Cover for Corporate Deregulation Agenda
4 src Cato Institute · Charles Koch · Ed Crane · Murray Rothbard · +4 | confirmed | |
| 1987-01-01 | Heritage Foundation Budget Reaches $14.3 Million - Scale of Corporate Policy Investment
3 src Heritage Foundation · Joseph Coors · Richard Mellon Scaife · Edwin Feulner · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1987-01-01 | Olin Foundation Law and Economics Programs Expand to Elite Law Schools
3 src John M. Olin Foundation · William E. Simon · Stanford Law School · Harvard Law School · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1987-01-01 | Philanthropy Roundtable Founded - Conservative Donor Coordination Infrastructure
3 src Philanthropy Roundtable · Institute for Educational Affairs · Koch Network · Conservative foundations | confirmed | |
| 1987-01-01 | Wackenhut Corrections Wins First Federal Immigration Detention Contract in Aurora, Colorado
4 src Wackenhut Corporation · Wackenhut Corrections Corporation · George C. Zoley · George Wackenhut · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1986-11-25 | Attorney General Meese Reveals Iran-Contra Scandal to Public
3 src Edwin Meese · Ronald Reagan · Oliver North · John Poindexter | confirmed | |
| 1986-11-21 | Oliver North Begins Systematic Destruction of Iran-Contra Evidence
3 src Oliver North · Fawn Hall · John Poindexter | confirmed | |
| 1986-11-06 | Immigration Reform and Control Act Grants Amnesty to 3 Million, Employer Sanctions Fail
3 src Ronald Reagan · Alan Simpson · Romano Mazzoli · U.S. Congress | confirmed | |
| 1986-10-27 | Anti-Drug Abuse Act Establishes 100-to-1 Crack-Cocaine Sentencing Disparity
4 src Ronald Reagan · U.S. Congress | confirmed | |
| 1986-10-22 | Koop Releases AIDS Report After Five-Year Delay: Public Health vs Politics
3 src C. Everett Koop · Ronald Reagan · U.S. Department of Health and Human Services | confirmed | |
| 1986-10-22 | Reagan Signs Tax Reform Act of 1986 - Top Individual Rate Cut from 50% to 28%, Corporate Rate Slashed from 46% to 34%, Tax Brackets Reduced from 16 to 2
9 src Ronald Reagan · Dan Rostenkowski · Bob Packwood · Bill Bradley · +3 | confirmed | |
| 1986-10-22 | Tax Reform Act of 1986 - Corporate Lobbying Secures Massive Rate Reductions
3 src Ronald Reagan · Corporate lobbyists · U.S. Senate Finance Committee · U.S. Congress | confirmed | |
| 1986-10-21 | Congress Passes Electronic Communications Privacy Act, Codifies Third-Party Doctrine for Digital Communications
3 src Robert Kastenmeier · Patrick Leahy · Ronald Reagan · 99th Congress | confirmed | |
| 1986-10-01 | Corrections Corporation of America Goes Public on NASDAQ at $9 Per Share, Wall Street Bets on Mass Incarceration
3 src Corrections Corporation of America · Thomas W. Beasley · Nasdaq · Vanderbilt University Law School · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1986-09-26 | Reagan Vetoes Apartheid Sanctions, Congress Overrides in Historic Rebuke
3 src Ronald Reagan · Desmond Tutu | confirmed | |
| 1986-04-07 | EMTALA Passes as Unfunded Mandate, Enabling Insurance Industry to Shift Emergency Care Costs to Hospitals
3 src Ronald Reagan · American Hospital Association · Health Insurance Association of America · Pete Stark | confirmed | |
| 1986-02-25 | Meese Announces West Publishing Deal: Presidential Signing Statements Enter U.S. Code Legislative History
3 src Edwin Meese · Ronald Reagan · Samuel Alito · West Publishing Company · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1986-01-01 | State Policy Network (Madison Group) Founded - State-Level Think Tank Coordination
3 src Thomas A. Roe · American Legislative Exchange Council · Heritage Foundation · South Carolina Policy Council · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1985-12-04 | NSC Running Shadow Foreign Policy Through McFarlane and Poindexter
3 src Robert McFarlane · John Poindexter · Oliver North · Ronald Reagan | confirmed | |
| 1985-10-02 | Rock Hudson Dies of AIDS: Reagan Forced to Finally Acknowledge Crisis
4 src Rock Hudson · Ronald Reagan · Nancy Reagan · C. Everett Koop | confirmed | |
| 1985-09-04 | Inslaw Files Bankruptcy Accusing DOJ of Stealing PROMIS Software for Intelligence Use
4 src William Hamilton · Inslaw Inc. · Department of Justice · Edwin Meese · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1985-08-20 | First Secret Arms Shipment to Iran Initiates Iran-Contra Scandal
3 src Ronald Reagan · Robert McFarlane · Oliver North · Manucher Ghorbanifar | confirmed | |
| 1985-08-17 | Hormel Strike Broken Through Permanent Replacement, Ending Pattern Bargaining in Meatpacking
3 src Hormel · United Food and Commercial Workers Local P-9 · Austin Minnesota workers · National Guard | confirmed | |
| 1985-05-01 | Carl Icahn TWA Hostile Takeover - Asset Stripping Blueprint
3 src Carl Icahn · Trans World Airlines · American Airlines | confirmed | |
| 1985-03-15 | Opus Dei Members Enter Reagan Administration
4 src Ronald Reagan · Opus Dei Members · Republican Party | confirmed | |
| 1985-01-31 | Idaho Legislature Overrides Veto to Impose Right-to-Work Law, Devastating Labor Movement
4 src Idaho Republican Party · Idaho Legislature · Governor John Evans · Idaho Department of Labor · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1985-01-01 | Bradley Foundation Transformation - Coordinated Conservative Infrastructure Funding
3 src Michael S. Joyce · Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation · Heritage Foundation · Federalist Society · +3 | confirmed | |
| 1985-01-01 | Carl Icahn Phillips Petroleum Hostile Takeover Attempt
3 src Carl Icahn · Phillips Petroleum · Michael Milken · Drexel Burnham Lambert | confirmed | |
| 1985-01-01 | CNP Establishes Three-Times-Yearly Meeting Schedule at Secret Locations
2 src Council for National Policy | confirmed | |
| 1985-01-01 | Council of Conservative Citizens Founded by Former White Citizens' Councils Members to Continue Segregationist Agenda
32 src Robert B. Patterson · Lester Maddox · Gordon Lee Baum · Council of Conservative Citizens · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1985-01-01 | Maxwell Begins Distribution of Backdoored PROMIS Software to KGB and China
3 src Robert Maxwell · KGB · Chinese Military Intelligence · PLA-2 · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1985-01-01 | Murdoch Strategic Media Empire Expansion and U.S. Media Regulatory Navigation
3 src Rupert Murdoch · John Kluge · Marc Rich | confirmed | |
| 1985-01-01 | PROMIS Software Creates Global Intelligence Surveillance Network Through Maxwell Distribution
3 src Robert Maxwell · US Intelligence · Soviet KGB · Multiple intelligence agencies · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1985-01-01 | Ronald Perelman Receives $750 Million Drexel Blind Pool for Corporate Acquisitions
3 src Ronald Perelman · Michael Milken · Drexel Burnham Lambert | confirmed | |
| 1985-01-01 | Trickle-Down Legacy: Reagan Policies Make Inequality Structural Feature
3 src Ronald Reagan · American workers · Wealthy elite · Corporate executives | confirmed | |
| 1984-12-03 | Bhopal Disaster Kills Thousands, Exposes Union Carbide Safety Negligence and Regulatory Failure
3 src Union Carbide Corporation · Warren Anderson · Indian government · U.S. chemical industry · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1984-10-30 | Cable Communications Policy Act - Media Deregulation and Consolidation Enabled
3 src Ronald Reagan · Barry Goldwater · Federal Communications Commission · Cable industry | confirmed | |
| 1984-10-12 | Boland Amendment Explicitly Prohibits All U.S. Funding for Contras
3 src Edward Boland · Ronald Reagan | confirmed | |
| 1984-09-24 | Hatch-Waxman Act Grants Pharma Patent Extensions While Creating Loopholes to Block Generics
3 src Orrin Hatch · Henry Waxman · Ronald Reagan · PhRMA | confirmed | |
| 1984-07-01 | Maxwell Acquires Daily Mirror for £113 Million, Expanding Media Empire
3 src Robert Maxwell · Mirror Group Newspapers · Reed International · Daily Mirror · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1984-06-01 | CIA Director Casey and Oliver North Create "The Enterprise" -- A Private Intelligence Operation Template
4 src William Casey · Oliver North · Richard Secord · Albert Hakim · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1984-05-07 | Agent Orange Settlement - Chemical Companies Pay $180 Million to Veterans Without Admitting Liability - Victims Receive Average $3,800
3 src Dow Chemical Company · Monsanto Company · Vietnam Veterans · Seven Chemical Companies · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1984-03-01 | Empire Savings Failure Exposes Land Flip Fraud Networks
4 src Empire Savings · Edwin Gray · Federal Home Loan Bank Board · Texas Real Estate Networks · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1984-02-01 | Charles Keating Purchases Lincoln S&L: Systematic Fraud Network
6 src Charles Keating · American Continental Corporation · Lincoln Savings and Loan · Keating Five Senators · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1984-01-22 | First Fully Privatized Prison Opens in Houston Under CCA Contract with Immigration and Naturalization Service
3 src Corrections Corporation of America · Immigration and Naturalization Service · T. Don Hutto · Thomas W. Beasley | confirmed | |
| 1984-01-01 | ALEC Corporate Membership Explodes as Major Corporations Overwhelm Organization with Requests for Legislative Access
3 src American Legislative Exchange Council · Kathleen Teague · Edison Electric Institute · Procter & Gamble · +6 | confirmed | |
| 1984-01-01 | Drexel Burnham Lambert Raises $100 Million Blind Pool for Nelson Peltz Corporate Raids
3 src Michael Milken · Nelson Peltz · Drexel Burnham Lambert · Triangle Industries | confirmed | |
| 1984-01-01 | Manhattan Institute Organizational Profile: Urban Policy Infrastructure and CIA-Connected Think Tank
4 src Manhattan Institute · William J. Casey · Antony Fisher · Charles Murray · +6 | confirmed | |
| 1983-12-20 | Donald Rumsfeld Meets Saddam Hussein as Reagan Special Envoy to Iraq
3 src Donald Rumsfeld · Saddam Hussein · Ronald Reagan | confirmed | |
| 1983-12-01 | Rita Lavelle Convicted of Perjury: EPA Superfund Corruption Confirmed
4 src Rita Lavelle · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency · Aerojet-General Corporation · Ronald Reagan · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1983-11-02 | Greyhound Strike Ends in Permanent Replacement Victory, PATCO Pattern Spreads to Private Sector
3 src Greyhound Lines · Amalgamated Transit Union · Fred Currey | confirmed | |
| 1983-10-09 | James Watt Resigns After Racist Remarks: Interior Department Corruption Ends
4 src James Watt · Ronald Reagan · Department of Interior · Beach Boys | confirmed | |
| 1983-07-01 | South Dakota abolishes Rule Against Perpetuities, enabling dynasty trusts and tax haven status
3 src South Dakota Legislature | confirmed | |
| 1983-06-30 | Phelps Dodge Breaks Copper Strike Using Permanent Replacement Workers, Destroying Union
3 src Phelps Dodge Corporation · United Steelworkers · Arizona miners · National Labor Relations Board | confirmed | |
| 1983-06-23 | INS v. Chadha: Supreme Court Invalidates Legislative Veto in 200+ Statutes, Structural Shift Toward Executive Power
3 src U.S. Supreme Court · Warren Burger · Byron White · William Rehnquist · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1983-04-26 | A Nation at Risk Report Launches Education Reform Industry, Lays Groundwork for Privatization
3 src National Commission on Excellence in Education · Secretary of Education Terrel Bell · Ronald Reagan · Heritage Foundation | confirmed | |
| 1983-04-20 | Medicare Adopts DRG Prospective Payment System Creating Hospital Profit Incentives for Reduced Care
3 src Ronald Reagan · Richard Schweiker · American Hospital Association · Federation of American Hospitals | confirmed | |
| 1983-03-09 | Anne Gorsuch Resigns EPA After Contempt of Congress: Regulatory Capture Exposed
4 src Anne Gorsuch Burford · Ronald Reagan · U.S. Congress · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1983-01-28 | Corrections Corporation of America Founded in Nashville, Launching Modern Private Prison Industry
3 src Thomas W. Beasley · Robert Crants · T. Don Hutto · Corrections Corporation of America · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1983-01-01 | Heritage Foundation Expands to 100+ Staff with $10 Million Budget During Reagan Administration Peak Influence
3 src Heritage Foundation · Edwin Feulner · Ronald Reagan · Richard Scaife · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1982-11-17 | SEC Adopts Rule 10b-18, Legalizing Stock Buybacks and Creating Major Wealth Extraction Mechanism
3 src Securities and Exchange Commission · John Shad · Ronald Reagan | confirmed |