On the campaign trail ...

The first quarter congressional fundraising numbers were made available this past week and Illinois incumbents, not surprisingly, are outraising their challengers. In the open 10th District race, Democrat Dan Seals (pic 5) posted the highest fundraising total of any U.S. House candidate in the state. Rep. Mark Kirk returned some donations employees of Goldman Sachs made to his campaign. And the issue of how GOP candidates pay their staffers surfaced as a campaign issue.

The gubernatorial campaign has begun to liven up a bit. A scan through the state's op-ed pages shows that the dreaded "flip-flopper" narrative is sticking to Gov. Quinn.  Meanwhile, Bill Brady (pic 6) committed an unforced error by delaying the release of his tax returns, only to show reporters Friday that he paid no income tax in 2008 and 2009 due to significant business losses.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel (pic 2) made some news as well when he told PBS' Charlie Rose that he would like to run for mayor of Chicago if Richard Daley ever steps down. Rep. Luis Gutierrez wasn't so keen on that idea.  Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan said that he is also interested in the job and even hinted that a challenge to Daley is a possibility.

In Washington ...

Since President Obama passed health care reform in late March, Illinois Insurance Director Michael McRaith (pic 1) has worked hard to make clear how the bill with affect the Prairie State. Testifying before Congress this week, he urged lawmakers to pass legislation preventing insurance companies from gouging their clients before the new regulatory framework is installed.  He also pushed back against the insurance industry's attempts to downplay their profits.

Lawmakers and activists, however, are turning their attention toward financial reform. According to some reports, congressional Democrats may attempt to simultaneously crack down on major financial institutions and use the resulting revenue to protect school districts budgets nationwide.  Rep. Peter Roskam (pic 7) opposes the measure and took to the local airwaves to falsely characterize it as "another bailout."

Meanwhile, as the state of Arizona approved a draconian anti-immigrant law, Illinois immigration activists set a firm deadline for the U.S. Congress to step up and pass a comprehensive reform package.

The rumors about potential nominees for the soon-to-be vacant U.S. Supreme Court seat kept swirling as well.  A reported White House shortlist included two Chicagoans: Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals judges Diane Wood and Ann Claire Williams (pic 4).

Finally, we celebrated Equal Pay Day, a national event to raise awareness about the discrepancies in wages between men and women.

In Chicago ...

An innovative ordinance by Chicago Ald. Joe Moore (49th Ward) to reduce carbon dioxide emissions at two coal-fired power plants generated some national attention. And the living wage initiative introduced last week was all but ignored during a discussion about Wal-Mart on WTTW's Chicago Tonight.

Elsehwere on the beat, Illinois PIRG and Food and Water Watch released the results of a new study examining the cost to taxpayers of selling off the city's water system.  And the mayor's Office of Special Events announced a pilot program this week that will allow folks enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to use their food stamp cards at farmers markets.