Obama opens White House to Chicago's top 1%

Chicago’s richest residents, surveyed in a new study about how the wealthy influence politics, regularly contacted top Obama White House aides and federal officials for favors for themselves and clients, including banks and land developers, according to a new report.

A groundbreaking survey of Chicago’s top 1 percent, those worth an average of $14 million and who earned over $1 million annually, said that of those who had talked to administration and federal officials, 44 percent “acknowledged a focus on fairly narrow economic self interest.” The rest were pushing for action on broader matters “touching on the common good.”