1980s
The 1980s contain 161 verified events in the Capture Cascade Timeline.
Activity over time
Events per year
| Date | Event | Lanes | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982-11-01 | RNC Signs Consent Decree Banning Voter Intimidation After Armed Ballot Security Task Force
4 src Republican National Committee · Democratic National Committee · Dickinson R. Debevoise | confirmed | |
| 1982-10-15 | Reagan Signs Garn-St Germain Act: Massive Thrift Deregulation
4 src Ronald Reagan · Jake Garn (R-UT) · Fernand St Germain (D-RI) · Chuck Schumer · +3 | confirmed | |
| 1982-10-14 | Reagan Declares Intensified War on Drugs: Federal Drug Enforcement Budget Skyrockets as Incarceration Becomes National Policy
3 src Ronald Reagan · Nancy Reagan · Edwin Meese · DEA | confirmed | |
| 1982-10-06 | Josemaria Escriva Beatified Despite Controversies
5 src Pope John Paul II · Josemaria Escriva · Vatican | confirmed | |
| 1982-09-20 | Bamford's The Puzzle Palace Published, First Book-Length Public History of NSA After 30 Years of Denial
2 src James Bamford · National Security Agency · Houghton Mifflin · Department of Justice | confirmed | |
| 1982-09-16 | Reagan Supports Philippine Dictator Marcos Despite Massive Kleptocracy
3 src Ronald Reagan · Ferdinand Marcos · Imelda Marcos · Nancy Reagan | confirmed | |
| 1982-09-03 | Reagan Signs TEFRA Reversing Much of ERTA - Largest Peacetime Tax Increase Raises $100 Billion After Revenue Collapse
3 src Ronald Reagan · Robert Dole · Jack Kemp · Bruce Bartlett · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1982-06-30 | Equal Rights Amendment Defeated After Schlafly's Decade-Long Campaign, Establishing Conservative Movement Model
3 src Phyllis Schlafly · STOP ERA · Eagle Forum · Ronald Reagan · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1982-06-29 | Voting Rights Act Extension of 1982: Results Test Adopted, Section 2 Strengthened After Reagan Opposition
3 src Ronald Reagan · U.S. Congress · Bob Dole · Edward Kennedy · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1982-06-14 | DOJ Issues Baxter's 1982 Merger Guidelines, Revolutionizing Antitrust Enforcement Toward Corporate Permissiveness
4 src William F. Baxter · Department of Justice · Federal Trade Commission · Ronald Reagan | confirmed | |
| 1982-04-25 | Federalist Society Established: Conservative Judicial Pipeline Inception
4 src Steven Calabresi · David McIntosh · Lee Liberman Otis · Robert Bork · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1982-04-25 | Federalist Society Organizational Profile: Judicial Pipeline and Conservative Legal Movement Infrastructure
4 src Federalist Society · Leonard Leo · Steven Calabresi · David McIntosh · +10 | confirmed | |
| 1982-04-22 | Berkeley Pit Mine Closes on Earth Day, Pumps Shut Off, Creating Toxic Lake Superfund Site
3 src Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) · Anaconda Copper Mining Company · Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · Montana Department of Environmental Quality · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1982-03-23 | Guatemala Military Coup Brings Ríos Montt to Power with Reagan Support
3 src Ronald Reagan · Efraín Ríos Montt | confirmed | |
| 1982-02-09 | Reagan Appoints Robert Bork to DC Circuit Court of Appeals, Positioning Antitrust Revolution Author for Supreme Court
3 src Robert Bork · Ronald Reagan · DC Circuit Court of Appeals · Federalist Society · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1982-01-08 | AT&T Breakup Settlement Finalized, Becoming Last Major Antitrust Action for Decades
3 src AT&T · Department of Justice · Ronald Reagan · Robert Bork | confirmed | |
| 1982-01-01 | Federalist Society Founded to Capture Conservative Legal Pipeline
3 src Steven Calabresi · David McIntosh · Lee Liberman Otis · Spencer Abraham · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1982-01-01 | Reagan Deficit Explosion: National Debt Triples From $1T to $3T in Eight Years
4 src Ronald Reagan · U.S. Congress · Office of Management and Budget · Department of the Treasury | confirmed | |
| 1982-01-01 | S&L Deregulation Creates Moral Hazard: Recipe for Systematic Fraud
3 src Ronald Reagan · Savings and Loan industry · Federal Home Loan Bank Board · Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation | confirmed | |
| 1981-12-04 | Reagan Signs Executive Order 12333, Loosening Intelligence Restrictions and Enabling Private Contractor Involvement
4 src Ronald Reagan · Central Intelligence Agency · National Security Agency · Defense Intelligence Agency · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1981-12-01 | CNP Completes "Three-Legged Stool" with Heritage and ALEC - Coordination Infrastructure Operational
2 src Council for National Policy · Heritage Foundation · American Legislative Exchange Council · Paul Weyrich | confirmed | |
| 1981-11-13 | Lee Atwater's Recorded Confession Explains Evolution of Racial Dog Whistle Politics
3 src Lee Atwater · Alexander Lamis · Republican Party | confirmed | |
| 1981-09-29 | Reagan Orders Coast Guard Interdiction of Haitian Refugees, Establishing Maritime Asylum Denial
3 src Ronald Reagan · U.S. Coast Guard · Immigration and Naturalization Service · Jean-Claude Duvalier · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1981-08-13 | Reagan Signs Economic Recovery Tax Act (ERTA) - Top Rate Slashed from 70% to 50%, Corporate Tax Cuts Total $150 Billion Over Five Years
5 src Ronald Reagan · Jack Kemp · William Roth · David Stockman · +4 | confirmed | |
| 1981-08-13 | Reagan Signs ERTA: Massive Tax Cuts for Wealthy Begin Inequality Explosion
4 src Ronald Reagan · U.S. Congress · Jack Kemp · William Roth | confirmed | |
| 1981-08-03 | Reagan Fires PATCO Strikers: Union-Busting Era Begins
4 src Ronald Reagan · Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization · PATCO · Federal Aviation Administration | confirmed | |
| 1981-06-05 | AIDS Epidemic Begins: Reagan Administration Maintains Years of Deadly Silence
4 src Ronald Reagan · Centers for Disease Control · C. Everett Koop · Larry Speakes | confirmed | |
| 1981-05-18 | Council for National Policy Founded with Schlafly as Founding Member, Creating Elite Conservative Network
3 src Phyllis Schlafly · Council for National Policy · Tim LaHaye · Paul Weyrich · +5 | confirmed | |
| 1981-05-01 | Council for National Policy Founded - Secret Conservative Coordination Network
3 src Tim LaHaye · Paul Weyrich · Nelson Bunker Hunt · Howard Phillips · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1981-05-01 | Tim LaHaye Founds Council for National Policy: The Shadow Network That Coordinates the American Right
3 src Tim LaHaye · Paul Weyrich · Richard Viguerie · Howard Phillips · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1981-04-13 | Reagan Appoints William Baxter as Antitrust Chief, Enforcement Collapses as Chicago School Takes Control
4 src Ronald Reagan · William F. Baxter · Department of Justice · Stanford Law School · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1981-04-01 | Epstein leaves Bear Stearns amid SEC insider trading investigation
3 src Jeffrey Epstein · Bear Stearns · Securities and Exchange Commission · Edgar Bronfman · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1981-04-01 | Jack Welch Becomes GE CEO, Launches 'Shareholder Value' Era and Mass Layoffs
3 src Jack Welch · General Electric | confirmed | |
| 1981-01-28 | Reagan Appoints James Watt as Interior Secretary - Oil Industry Capture
5 src Ronald Reagan · James Watt · Mountain States Legal Foundation · Coors Company · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1981-01-20 | Reagan Inauguration Begins Antitrust Revolution: Eight Years of Systematic Enforcement Collapse and Corporate Consolidation
4 src Ronald Reagan · William F. Baxter · Douglas Ginsburg · Robert Bork · +4 | confirmed | |
| 1981-01-01 | ALEC Establishes Cabinet Task Forces and Partners with Reagan's Task Force on Federalism
4 src American Legislative Exchange Council · Ronald Reagan · Paul Laxalt · Tom Stivers · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1981-01-01 | Corporate Tax Avoidance Explosion: Reagan Loopholes Slash Corporate Revenue
3 src Ronald Reagan · Corporate America · Internal Revenue Service · U.S. Congress | confirmed | |
| 1981-01-01 | Heritage Foundation's "Mandate for Leadership" Becomes Reagan Administration Blueprint
4 src Heritage Foundation · Ronald Reagan · Edwin Meese · James Watt · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1981-01-01 | Reagan Administration Muzzles Surgeon General Koop on AIDS for Five Years
4 src C. Everett Koop · Ronald Reagan · U.S. Department of Health and Human Services | confirmed | |
| 1981-01-01 | Reagan Environmental Deregulation: Systematic Dismantling of Protections
3 src Ronald Reagan · Anne Gorsuch · James Watt · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1981-01-01 | Reagan Era Wage Stagnation: Real Wages Decline as Inequality Accelerates
4 src Ronald Reagan · American workers · Labor unions · Corporate America | confirmed | |
| 1981-01-01 | Supply-Side Economics Failure: Empirical Evidence Debunks Trickle-Down Theory
4 src Ronald Reagan · Arthur Laffer · David Stockman · Greg Mankiw · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1981-01-01 | Wealth Inequality Explodes: Reagan Policies Accelerate Income Gap
4 src Ronald Reagan · Top 1% earners · Middle class · Working class | confirmed | |
| 1980-12-11 | Superfund Law Passes But Industry Successfully Builds In Weaknesses and Delays
3 src Jimmy Carter · Chemical Manufacturers Association · American Petroleum Institute · U.S. Chamber of Commerce · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1980-11-05 | Edward Seaga Defeats Michael Manley in Jamaica Election, Immediately Re-Engages IMF Structural Adjustment
3 src Edward Seaga · Michael Manley · International Monetary Fund · Jamaica Labour Party · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1980-11-04 | Ronald Reagan Elected President, Conservative Infrastructure Achieves Powell Memo Goals
3 src Ronald Reagan · Heritage Foundation · Paul Weyrich · Edwin Feulner · +3 | confirmed | |
| 1980-08-03 | Reagan Launches General Election Campaign with 'States' Rights' Speech Near Civil Rights Murder Site
4 src Ronald Reagan · Republican Party | confirmed | |
| 1980-07-01 | Carter Signs Motor Carrier Act, Completing Bipartisan Transportation Deregulation
2 src Jimmy Carter · U.S. Congress | confirmed | |
| 1980-07-01 | Reagan Aide Edwin Meese Coordinates with Heritage on "Mandate for Leadership"
2 src Edwin Meese III · Ronald Reagan · Edwin Feulner · Heritage Foundation · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1980-06-30 | Schlafly and Falwell Joint Rally Demonstrates Religious Right Coalition Unity
2 src Phyllis Schlafly · Jerry Falwell · Eagle Forum · Moral Majority · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1980-06-20 | Powell creates Central Hudson test expanding corporate commercial speech rights
3 src Lewis F. Powell Jr. · Supreme Court of the United States · Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation · New York Public Service Commission | confirmed | |
| 1980-04-21 | Mariel Boatlift Exposes Racist Double Standards as Cubans Welcomed While Haitians Detained
3 src Jimmy Carter · Fidel Castro · Cuban refugees · Haitian refugees · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1980-03-24 | U.S. Backs El Salvador Death Squad Government Through 12-Year Civil War
3 src Ronald Reagan · Roberto D'Aubuisson · Oscar Romero | confirmed | |
| 1980-03-17 | Refugee Act of 1980 Establishes Systematic Asylum Process, Becomes Target of Enforcement Capture
3 src Jimmy Carter · Edward Kennedy · U.S. Congress · United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1980-01-07 | Carter Signs Chrysler Bailout, Corporate Welfare Precedent Set
3 src Jimmy Carter · Lee Iacocca | confirmed | |
| 1980-01-01 | Banking Industry Launches Systematic Campaign to Erode Glass-Steagall Act
3 src Major commercial banks · Banking lobbyists · Federal regulators · Academic economists · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1980-01-01 | Black, Manafort & Stone lobbying firm founded, nicknamed 'Torturers' Lobby'
3 src Charlie Black · Paul Manafort · Roger Stone | confirmed | |
| 1980-01-01 | Charles Heatherly Produces "Mandate for Leadership" Outline, Assembling 300 Contributors
2 src Charles Heatherly · Edwin Feulner · Heritage Foundation | confirmed | |
| 1980-01-01 | Claim: Epstein and Maxwell Alleged Intelligence Operation (Unverified)
5 src Jeffrey Epstein · Ghislaine Maxwell · Robert Maxwell · Mossad · +3 | disputed | |
| 1980-01-01 | Corporate Political Mobilization Accelerates Following Powell Memo and Business Roundtable Formation
3 src Business Roundtable · U.S. Chamber of Commerce · National Association of Manufacturers · Lewis Powell · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1980-01-01 | NLRB Systemic Underfunding and Weak Enforcement Enables Corporate Union-Busting
3 src National Labor Relations Board · U.S. Congress · Corporate lobbying groups · Reagan administration | confirmed |