Court ruling that allows Millennium Park eatery to avoid property taxes is used to justify huge tax breaks for a clout-heavy concessionaire at Midway Airport.
Chuck Neubauer
Chuck Neubauer is an award-winning investigative reporter who has a five-decade track record of breaking high-impact stories about public officials, from Chicago City Council members to powerful members of Congress.
He is currently based in Washington, D.C. after years of working in Chicago as an investigative reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times and earlier for the Chicago Tribune where he shared in a Pulitzer Prize with the late George Bliss for a series on abuses in federal housing programs.
He and his wife, Sandy Bergo, have spent the last 10 years doing freelance investigative stories as special contributors for the Illinois Answers Project and the Better Government Association. Their reporting has looked into the actions of politicians ranging from Ald. Edward M. Burke to former House Speaker Michael J. Madigan to former Rep. Bobby Rush to Gov. J.B. Pritzker. They have also reported on how leaders of the Illinois legislature skirted campaign finance limits and also on the generous pensions some Illinois lawmakers receive.
At the Sun-Times, Neubauer, along with Mark Brown and Michael Briggs, reported in the 1990s that powerful House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski misused hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal taxpayer funds to purchase three personal cars, buy expensive gifts for friends and hire staffers who did personal work for him. Those disclosures were the basis for several counts in the federal indictment against Rostenkowski who pleaded guilty and served 17 months in prison.
Neubauer’s reporting also helped lead to federal criminal charges and convictions of former Illinois Governor Dan Walker, Illinois Attorney General William J. Scott and former Illinois State Treasurer Jerry Cosentino.
In 2001, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked for the Los Angeles Times and later the Washington Times, exposing conflicts of interests involving Senate and House leaders.
Neubauer began his career as the BGA’s first intern in 1971 before becoming a reporter.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Congressman’s Decisions Benefit Dad’s Lobby Clients
Lobbyist Bill Lipinski earns millions from clients who also are getting aid from his son, U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Media Exec Bailed Out Congressman’s Church
Joseph Stroud’s company paid the electric bill for the Chicago church run by U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush – who has gone to bat for Stroud in Congress.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Campaign Donor Covered Salary For Congressman’s Niece
Politically connected airport contractor paid salary of U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush’s niece, allegedly for her job at the South Side church run by the congressman.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Valerie Jarrett Works To Close Tax Loophole – While Benefitting From It
Top Obama advisor was tasked with helping kill controversial income tax perk used by the “wealthy and well-connected.” Yet she made a killing on a Chicago real estate deal by enlisting the benefit.
Posted inInvestigations, News
Pensions Make Golden Years Lucrative For Illinois Pols In Congress, White House
Many current and former federal officials from Illinois are reaping generous pensions, or stand to. Some are double dipping – drawing federal and state benefits, with taxpayers picking up the tab either way.
Posted inInvestigations, News
Poshard, The Prince Of Pensions
Former Congressman Glenn Poshard, who lost the governor’s race in 1998, is collecting more than $200,000 a year, in total, from four taxpayer-funded pensions – one of the largest takes among retired Illinois politicians.
Posted inInvestigations, News
Congressional Investigators Not Done With Bobby Rush
Prompted by BGA/Sun-Times stories, U.S. House Ethics Committee forges ahead with probe into Congressman Rush’s campaign finances as report finds he may have broken state and federal law.
Posted inInvestigations, News
Obama Aide, Daley Pal Cash In On Chicago FBI Building Project
Clout-heavy landlords – including a future member of the Obama cabinet – make big money from taxpayers by building and leasing FBI’s new Chicago headquarters. Why didn’t the feds just build the structure themselves?
Posted inInvestigations, News
Cashing In On Congressional Connections
Retired Illinois congressman getting rich working for special interests that once sought his help in U.S. House – and he’s not the only member of his family getting paid.
