If you listen to Democrats tell it, the entire world is eagerly awaiting the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center on June 19. But with just days remaining until the opening, there are already some serious financial questions surrounding a "safety net" that would prevent taxpayers from picking up part of the tab. Could this be another "If you like your plan, you can keep it" broken promise?
850M Obama Presidential Center opens on Juneteenth.
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) June 4, 2026
Be honest… is this the most beautiful building you’ve ever seen? 😂
(Video: AI) pic.twitter.com/MgQWtVkqUc
The problem: The Obama Center's foundation has yet to put in place a promised $470 million safety net designed to prevent a public bailout. A Fox News Digital report states that because of the absence of the safety net:
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…
READ MORE: Obama Center Neighbors Now Mobilizing Against Gentrification Threat
In an interesting agreement with the city of Chicago, the Foundation would create an endowment, or cash reserve, as part of a 99-year sweetheart deal to control all 19.3 acres of the section of Jackson Park the Center sits on and is publicly owned, for a one-time payment of just $10. In 2021, when construction began on the center, the Foundation deposited $1 million into the reserve fund, but since then, that balance has not changed much.
As with most things associated with Democrats, the cost of the Center kept ballooning. The original price tag was $300 million. In 2017, the budget was revised to $500 million, and again in 2021 to $700 million. While it is not an official total, the cost is now close to a whopping $ 850 million. The Center has been privately funded by individuals, corporations, and other foundations.
The Obama center is going to be a big disappointment..
— Zoe Leigh 🇺🇸🌹 (@mrstealyourwig1) June 15, 2026
It’s not going to contribute nothing to this city but more debt..
Robert Grogan is the Illinois GOP Chair who stated:
“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 [where it stood] when they opened it up. So I don’t believe that they’ve kept that promise.”
Back in March, RedState reported on the Obama Center looking for unpaid "skilled volunteers" to serve in several capacities, such as greeters and guides, while many of the Obama faithful, such as longtime Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett, will rake in a six-figure salary as Chief Executive of the Obama Center. But the Center's financial woes are continuing to pile up. Grogan went on to say that several contractors and subcontractors are engaged in payment disputes, which makes the neglected safety net a bigger problem.
ALSO READ: Only 'Skilled Volunteers' Requested to Work at the Obama Library While Insiders Rake in Six Figures
Fox Digital goes on to report that several construction firms have claimed losses “from hundreds of thousands of dollars to tens of millions.” The president of one plumbing company says his firm is in the hole for $4 million. Omar Shareef is the President of the African-American Contractors Association, and states that a number of black-owned contractors are in substantial financial difficulty. Wait, aren't those the people the Obamas say they want to help?
Barack Obama's eyesore of a shrine to himself is not being billed as a Presidential Library. His presidential records are in the National Archives in Maryland. It is merely a place where you can pay $30 bucks to get in and be lectured to about how the only time America didn't suck was when Obama was president.
Maybe the best response the contractors who haven't been paid could give the Obama Foundation would be, "You didn't build that."
Meanwhile Obama's Presidential Center,
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) June 15, 2026
"So many of our black contractors are complaining they have not got their money. A lot of the black community and newspapers do not know."
pic.twitter.com/ZzagSVvzAW
Editor's Note: The Democrat Party has never been less popular as voters reject its globalist agenda.
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