Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 06/18/2026 7:28:39 AM PDT by texas booster
Cost to taxpayers for Obama Center keep piling up
Illinois taxpayers may be on the hook for millions in unpaid contractor fees for the Obama Presidential Center as the foundation's promised $420 million "safety net" fund to prevent a taxpayer bailout has yet to materialize and many black-owned contractors are being left unpaid.
Meanwhile, multiple contractors are now saying that the Obama Center hasn't paid them for millions of dollars for their work. And some are wondering if taxpayers will be forced to pay up, according to Fox News.
Some of these subcontractors say they are locked in payment disputes and if they aren't paid, they face closing their businesses.
The City of Chicago approved the Obama Center under the requirement the foundation would raise a $470 million backup fund to pay for expenses that slipped under the radar so taxpayers would not have to pony. The fund is part of the 99-year deal to use the 19.3-acre Jackson Park in exchange for a token payment of $10.
But so far, that $470 million fund has only been bankrolled to the tune of a mere $1 million.
Illinois GOP Chair Robert Grogan blasted the Barack Obama Foundation, saying:
"One of their core promises was they were supposed to create an endowment as basically an insurance policy so the taxpayers wouldn’t get stuck with the bill. They promised hundreds of millions of dollars for it. It’s still sitting at the $1 million mark when they opened it up. So, I don’t believe that they’ve kept that promise."
Grogan also says the empty backup fund and the contractor disputes is a major problem.
"The fact that they have created this probably unsustainable edifice to an ego and then, eventually, if it goes under, who’s going to be caught with the bill time and time again? It’s the taxpayers of the city, citizens of Chicago and the state of Illinois," he said.
New York University law professor Richard Epstein warns the reason the endowment fund was envisioned was to make sure there is a backup if funds fall short. Now, money has fallen short and the backup fund is nonexistent. But more than that, Epstein says the lack of an endowment find could make the Center unsafe to visitors.
"If the endowment hasn’t been filled, the building [could] fall into neglect, it then becomes a safety risk, and it turns out that nobody’s going to pay the bill," Epstein explained. "The city, therefore, is going to have to assume additional obligations to make sure that thing is kept in place.
Indeed, several black-owned businesses are now in financial distress because they have not been paid for their work on the Center.
Crain's notes minority contractors are saying the Center has been "holy hell" for them, according to African American Contractors Association President Omar Shareef.
Shareef added that many of these minority contractors are on the edge of insolvency and "It’s to the point that they wished they never had done" the work for Obama.
The foundation claims everything is just fine.
"On the eve of our Grand Opening celebrations, we are pleased to reiterate that the Obama Presidential Center is fully funded with generous private contributions," the Foundation said in a statement. "$470M of our fundraising goal will go toward seeding an endowment that will sustain Obama Foundation activities and the operations of the OPC for generations to come."
Epstein scoffed at the claims.
"On their view, putting a penny in an endowment fund covers all the risks," he said.
President Donald Trump also recently took aim at the Center's cost overruns.
"Ask him how he’s doing on his museum library. He’s got hundreds of millions of dollars of cost overruns. It’s come to a dead halt. He built it in not a particularly good location. He’s not into real estate, you know, he doesn’t know about location," Trump said last week.
"The beautiful Obama building that he’s building in Chicago for the museum, which is now shuttered up, and they couldn’t finish it, what did you say, about five years behind schedule and about 2,000 percent over budget, then he tells us how to run Medicaid," he added.
Indeed, the project has already zoomed past the initial $350 million estimate back in 2021 and is now sitting at $830 million.
Obama and his cohorts have claimed taxpayers would never be on the hook for the Obama Presidential Center. Now that promise is on the verge of evaporating.
|
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
If Illinois is stupid enough to pick up Obama’s library debt, then they deserve to have to pay.
Seriously, what mechanism is in place that would force Illinois to pay these bills? Those owed should be suing Obama in court for repayment.
Put a lien on the place and sell it at auction.
ANOTHER OBAMA ACCOUNTING FAILURE
The foundation claims everything is just fine.
Who owns the land and building? It was formerly a public park, wasn’t it? Did title transfer, or is the building on city land and, if so, is it not subject to contractor liens?
No reporter has included enough information to tell whether or not the city, the state, or the federal taxpayers might be on the hook.
How much did the Flak guns on the roof cost?
Just have Barry ‘splain to the contractors that they didn’t build that.
There are lots of pictures of the outside of the muslim prayer tower, but how about pics of the inside?
I would bet that the building is empty inside.
Just a shell like it’s namesake.
Hitch your wagon to a crook and liar you get robbed. My heart bleeds.
The Democrats sphave a history of underperforming and over charging. And every single time, it’s the taxpayers that have to foot the bill. I don’t there is a single example of ANY project that the Democrats have done that hasn’t cost more money and taken more time than “estimated.”
It’s almost like they get a huge portion of their political funding via governmental scams . . .
That was the plan all along.
“One of their core promises was they were supposed to create an endowment as basically an insurance policy so the taxpayers wouldn’t get stuck with the bill. They promised hundreds of millions of dollars for it.”
You trusted the most corrupt administration in the history of the country. Sucks to be you and the Illinois taxpayer.
Thank you-you gave me the laugh of the day! I am pinging Pookie18 to see if this can be included (at post #12) in the daily Pookie Toons tomorrow!
The Obama Foundation——purported financier of the center-—— raised over a billion dollars for construction by leveraging Barack Obama’s immense political network, relying heavily on mega-donors from tech and entertainment, and tapping into grassroots supporters.
The billion dollar donations were raised to “finance the construction” of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.
If the Obama Foundation used funds raised for construction for another purpose, that should be reported to law enforcement.
How The Obama foundation raised billions for construction:
Billionaire and Corporate Megadonors:
<><>The largest portion of the funding came from high-profile technology and corporate figures.
<><>Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky donated $125 million,
<><>Amazon founder Jeff Bezos contributed $100 million.
Other major founding donors included
<><>the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
<><>Jeff Bezos, and Marc and Lynne Benioff.
Entertainment and Sports Figures: Celebrities and high-net-worth individuals also gave massive contributions to support the foundation’s construction and its broad goals.
Athletes George Lucas, Michael Jordan, and Brian Chesky donated.
While backed by billionaires, the foundation also generated widespread, smaller-scale contributions for construction. In peak fundraising years (like 2022 and late 2024), the foundation pulled in contributions from tens of thousands of individual donors
The Obama foundation ran a highly targeted effort—including the “Chicago Campaign”—to secure private donations for the construction of the $850 million Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park.
For a complete breakdown of their financial goals and to see where the construction money was directed, you can review the foundation’s Obama Foundation Fundraising Overview. To contribute or learn more about their ongoing programs, visit the Obama Foundation Donate Page.
I’ve got an idea ... let’s put the deadbeat in charge of defining the nation’s healthcare system! /s
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.