* The Sunlight Foundation is performing an excellent public service by totaling up all the reported outside spending on federal campaigns this season. For instance, here are the totals for the US Senate contest…

Alexander Giannoulias:
* Independent expenditures in support: $19,014.00
* Independent expenditures in opposition: $3,647,156.10

Mark Kirk:
* Independent expenditures in support: $147,628.76
* Independent expenditures in opposition: $1,845,565.00

Total outside spending in race: $5,659,363.86

Karl Rove’s groups have spent over $3.3 million on this campaign so far, making him the biggest outside spender, with more on the way. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee came in second at just under $1.8 million. Go here for the full list.

* Illinois 10th Congressional District…

Robert Dold:
* Independent expenditures in support: $0
* Independent expenditures in opposition: $468,519.91

Dan Seals:
* Independent expenditures in support: $168.75
* Independent expenditures in opposition: $260,386.31
* Electioneering communications: $100,000.00

Total outside spending in race: $829,074.97

The US Chamber spent $100,000 on a TV ad. The DCCC has spent over $300K on Seals.

* Illinois 11th…

Deborah Halvorson:
* Independent expenditures in support: $139.00
* Independent expenditures in opposition: $310,295.16
* Electioneering communications: $300,000.00

Adam Kinzinger:
* Independent expenditures in support: $3,747.69
* Independent expenditures in opposition: $139.00

Total outside spending in race: $614,320.85

The US Chamber spent $300,000 on a TV ad there. American Future Fund and the NRCC were the other big spenders against Halvorson.

* Illinois 14th…

Bill Foster:
* Independent expenditures in support: $797,030.00
* Independent expenditures in opposition: $425,330.43
* Electioneering communications: $3,480.00

Randy Hultgren:
* Independent expenditures in support: $4,620.31
* Independent expenditures in opposition: $502,829.62

Total outside spending in race: $1,733,290.36

The National Association of Realtors has dropped $765K to help Congressman Foster, including $100K for Internet ads. America’s Families First Action Fund has spent almost $200K against the Republican Hultgren.

* Illinois 17th…

Phil Hare:
* Independent expenditures in support: $12,546.00
* Independent expenditures in opposition: $187,704.61

Bobby Schilling:
* Independent expenditures in support: $5,530.19
* Independent expenditures in opposition: $583,312.65

Total outside spending in race: $789,093.45

The DCCC has dropped $558K so far on media, while the NRCC has spent $188K on Schilling.

* Meanwhile, Sen. Dick Durbin has asked the IRS to investigate Rove’s non-profit group that’s dumping gigantic dollars into races throughout the country…

Durbin wants an investigation into Crossroads GPS, a conservative group that enjoys tax-exempt status. By law, the group’s activities aren’t supposed to be primarily political.

But Durbin says ads like this one, against Democratic senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias, sure do sound political.

AD: …Illinois can’t afford any more Alexi.

Durbin says his problem is that Crossroads isn’t required to disclose its donors because it’s a nonprofit.

DURBIN: If you want to be treated as a charity, you can’t be a political organization.

* Rove, for his part, is gearing up to jump into some congressional races…

The conservative group American Crossroads, which has been singled out for criticism by President Obama and other Democrats, said Wednesday that it has shattered its fundraising goals in the face of such attacks and will now expand its efforts into House races as a result.

American Crossroads and its nonprofit affiliate, Crossroads GPS, will join two other Republican-friendly groups in a “House surge strategy,” spending up to $50 million in competitive districts over the next three weeks, officials said. The Crossroads groups will also expand their spending in Senate races. […]

Crossroads spokesman Jonathan Collegio said conservative outrage over the Democratic attacks helped the Crossroads group raise more than $13 million in the past week, shattering the group’s $52 million fundraising goal for the cycle. The two affiliates now expect to raise $65 million by Nov. 2. [Emphasis added.]

* The DCCC is trying to keep up…

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee dropped nearly $6.6 million in new independent expenditures this week, according to reports filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission, as the party faces an expanding landscape of vulnerable incumbents.

In the Mid-Atlantic region, the Midwest and the Southwest, the DCCC spent to help incumbents who increasingly appear to be in jeopardy. The committee has now spent just less than $19 million toward the $52 million strategists expect to dole out before Election Day.

* As is organized labor…

But labor groups are trailing their big Republican counterparts in terms of overall ad spending: the SEIU has spent a total of $6.3 million on ad buys and the American Federation for State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) has spent $7.1 million so far. By comparison, the Chamber has spent $20 million, and American Crossroads has dropped $13.5 million—and that’s only what’s been reported so far, before the blizzard of spending that accompanies the final weeks of any election.

The unions are having a change of heart on reform, now that they find themselves getting swamped…

The AFL-CIO originally supported the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, as the ruling lifted spending restrictions for both corporations and labor unions, and was wary about supporting campaign finance legislation that would require greater donor disclosure.

But having watched the ascendancy of outside GOP goliaths like American Crossroads, labor’s holdouts seemed to have changed their tune: AFL-CIO Richard Trumka said this week that he would unabashedly support greater disclosure requirements.

* All that Rove cash doesn’t seem to be working too well against Alexi Giannoulias, however. FiveThirtyEight gave Republican Mark Kirk a 56 percent chance of winning the US Senate race last week. It now gives Giannoulias a 53 percent shot, but the site’s model has this contest extremely close…

* Related…

* Hultgren explains budget role, unpopular votes

* Schilling ad blames Hare for job losses

* Flip-flop website: The flip-flop website also points to a TV interview in which Schilling called a bill that in part funds the salaries of hundreds of teachers in the 17th Congressional District “one of the more appropriate spending bills that we can have.” The site contrasts that statement with Schilling’s later opposition to the same bill, reported on a GOP website.

* From Pizza Parlor to Power Player - Republican Bobby Schilling Is an Unlikely Candidate for Congress

* Gaulrapp vs. Manzullo Debate

* First lady campaigns for ‘handsome young man’ Giannoulias

* Michelle Obama: Giannoulias ‘will be a phenomenal senator’: At her second event of the night, Obama stood on the stage with Democratic Representatives Debbie Halvorson and Bill Foster and Dan Seals, who is hoping to replace Rep. Mark Kirk in the North Shore’s 10th district. Her husband needs all their votes, she said.