[FoxNews] Foundation says it plans 'significant investments' in coming years, but contractors allege they face financial ruin
Concern is mounting that taxpayers could be left holding the bag if the Obama Presidential Center runs into financial trouble, as the foundation behind it has yet to establish a promised $470 million safety net to guard against a public bailout.
The scrutiny comes as a Fox News Digital investigation found multiple contractors and subcontractors claiming losses ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions on the project, with some alleging they remain locked in payment disputes and face financial ruin just days before the center's grand opening.
Under its agreement with the city, the Obama Foundation pledged to create the fund, known as an endowment, as part of its 99-year deal to take control of the publicly owned 19.3-acre section of Jackson Park for a one-time payment of just $10.
Fox News Digital previously reported that the foundation had deposited just $1 million into the reserve fund in 2021 and that the balance remained largely unchanged in its most recent publicly available filings.
Concerns about the center’s financial state have raged for years, especially since construction delays and costs have ballooned from an original estimate of roughly $330 million to at least $850 million based on 2021 figures. An updated final projected cost has not been made public.
ENDOWMENT CONCERNS
"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," Illinois GOP Chair Robert Grogan told Fox News Digital outside the center last week as worker vehicles entered and exited the center.
"They promised hundreds of millions of dollars for it. It’s still sitting at the $1 million mark [where it stood] when they opened it up. So I don’t believe that they’ve kept that promise."
The contractor disputes have renewed concern of the endowment because critics argue the fund was intended to serve as a backstop if the project ever encountered financial distress. The Obama Foundation disputes suggestions that taxpayers face exposure and said the project is funded through private contributions.
Grogan said reports that contractors and subcontractors remain locked in payment disputes make the largely unfunded reserve even more problematic.
"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."
#1
Not surprised at all. It would never be self-funded and would follow the path of most of the light-bringer's 'accomplishments' and devolve into the theft of other people's money.
Predicted here, and other places, multiple times
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
06/14/2026 6:34 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The Obama Presidential Center is a Classic Khrushchevka or Brutalist style of Soviet architecture. Call it what it is.
[Breitbart] Friday, during an appearance on Fox Business Network’s "The Evening Edit," Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX) said Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s revelations about over 120 secret U.S.-funded experimental biolabs overseas, including some that engaged in hazardous gain-of-function research, cast suspicion about Biden chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci and what he did not divulge during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Let’s welcome Congressman Lance Gooden from House Judiciary and House Armed Services," FBN host Elizabeth MacDonald said. "What do you make of this? She did not explicitly say that they were working on bio weapons, as in Ukraine, but is warning that there’s really lack of oversight here. What do you make of this revelation?"
Gooden replied, "Well, this is certainly not Russian propaganda anymore and when I look at the clips of liberals in the years past, saying this was all a lie by the far right, who are just trying to scare the American people, I just shake my head. It is so frustrating to know that our government was engaged in this activity over the years, and now it’s not a mystery why Joe Biden pardoned Mr. Fauci. It’s not necessarily because he was worried about us coming after him, it’s because he was worried about the truth getting out to the American people, and that’s what’s finally starting to happen. Folks are starting to realize with this release today that Mr. Fauci and our own government were behind quite a bit, and I hope the American people continue to learn more."
"I still don’t understand why they didn’t want us to learn about the Wuhan lab," he added. Why was it so imperative for Mr. Fauci to keep that information from the American people? And if he is who our Intelligence was listening to for the last 20 years, why did we have a pandemic in the first place? Shouldn’t he have figured that out?"
As we know Mr. Fauci was likely auto-pen pardoned, and under very suspicious circumstances to say the least.
But taking the pardon as it is.
It means he is free to testify without legal percussion covering any issue that occurred during the dates that he was pardoned for.
Since his pardon only covers OFFENSES against the United States, which he committed or took part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through the date of the pardon issued on Jan. 2025.
Hall his butt into court and have him testify as to who, what, when, where, why and how many, were involved in the whole Covid-19 cover up.
Then indict those that engineered and/or participated in the Covid-19 Pandemic coverup for committed federal crimes.
IF he is found lying, refuses to testify, or pleas the 5th.
Then bring felony murder co-conspirator charges against him.
#4
I'm sure there are some countries that would like to have a conversation with Fauci and I don't think a federal pardon prevents extradition to another country.
[PJMedia] Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew Ferguson exposed yet more horrifying details of the mass taxpayer funding fraud network in the U.S.
Ferguson said on Fox News that there are many tools and laws at hand for the federal government to use in identifying, investigating, and eliminating fraud, but the previous administration wasn’t interested in using them. In fact, the Biden-Harris administration deliberately removed fraud guardrails. Now, the FTC, the General Services Administration (GSA), and other federal entities have found that “400 businesses, with contracts worth $6 billion, originally allocated by the Biden administration, didn't even file physical addresses at their businesses. That's a statutory requirement.”
Ferguson emphasized, “You're not supposed to be able to get any money from the United States government unless you put down a physical mailing address, and they just didn't do it. And so [we], with the GSA, in conjunction with the [White House] task force, issued letters to these businesses, it says you have 30 days or we're cutting you off. There's still $3 billion unpaid on these contracts as of today.” That would be a fair amount of money we would save. “And that's just a drop in the bucket over at the Justice Department,” Ferguson added.
The DOJ has “gotten indictments and convictions just in the last week worth almost half a billion dollars. We started turning off Medicaid and Medicare dollars to providers that [it has] become clear are fraudulently charging the government with our partners at HHS."
For too many years, Ferguson declared, "dishonest citizens, and tons and tons of foreigners and foreign governments, have been putting their hands into the pockets of ordinary and honest Americans and taking that money from them, and President Trump is the first president to take this problem seriously, and that's why the task force is being successful."
Fox's Kayleigh McEnany asked Ferguson if a single Democrat governor had shown any initiative in helping to identify fraud. Ferguson answered, "No, in fact, all I've heard from Democrat governors until early this week was, 'The fraud isn't a problem. This is all a hoax. This is all a distraction.' Now, of course, it's clear that they understand the political pain that the empire of fraud, that [Gov.] Gavin Newsom has constructed in California, is gonna cause California Democrats, because this week, he had the attorney general of California and the governor touting all the work they're doing on fraud, total bull crap."
In reality, Ferguson stated, "They have been sitting on top of tens of billions of dollars in known fraud for decades, and doing nothing about it, and not just doing nothing about it, they have been facilitating it. Let me give you an example of this. The government sends tens of millions of dollars to the states every year to fund their Medicaid and Medicare fraud fighting units. Hawaii, just since 2021, has gotten millions and millions of dollars from the federal government to fight Medicaid fraud. Do you know how many convictions they've gotten since 2020? Zero."
That's why the federal government temporarily decertified Hawaii for Medicaid funding.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[FoxNews] Foundation says it plans 'significant investments' in coming years, but contractors allege they face financial ruin
