Green Sits Down With Webloggers

After accepting his party's endorsement for governor Congressman Mark Green sat down with Boots & Sabers, Lakeshore Laments, and The American Mind. We talked about the conservative divide, stem cells, and the UW System.

On mending the wounds from the Taxpayers Protection Amendment debacle Green acknowledges the problem. "They're clearly has been a fracture" in the Republican Party. "We've got to pull it together" in order to have a "governing conservative majority." He told us, "The legislature is missing a Republican governor. They need someone who can carry the message to every part of the state. The one person who has the big megaphone, the bully pulpit." He wants to make Republicans comfortable to know "they are running with a guy who supports lowering the tax burden" and limiting government. Green's solution to uniting conservatives is to hammer on taxes. "You would think that lowering the tax burden is about the best issue to unite the party."

On stem cells Green finds it "terrible that the governor would take an issue that is pretty sensitive" and use it as a "political sledgehammer." Green doesn't "believe that any research should be persued without some idea of there being ethics and morality to it." In contrast Gov. Doyle "apparently believes that any research is fair game." Green is "thrilled about the biotech explosion down in Madison" but doesn't think we "have to leave our moral compass behind."

I asked Green about what could be done to make UW-Milwaukee a regional center for economic growth. I mentioned the possibility of a name change. While not offering an opinion about a name change he did stress the importance of the university. Because graduates of that university are likely to remain in the Milwaukee area Green sees investment there as very important. "Everything that we invest in UW-Milwaukee... is going to pay off so much for our state. Because we know these folks are staying," said Green.

A second question I asked Green was whether he thought there were too many UW campuses. Should some be closed? I mentioned the three schools so close to each other in Western Wisconsin. Green doesn't want to close any schools. He joked that while going to college in Eau Claire there were three colleges within one hour of his apartment. Each school had its own "deputy vice-assistant chancellor." He offered the idea of "regionalize administrative services." The savings "would go back into access, back into affordability."

My questions allowed Green to go off on how disaffected he was with the UW System. He called it "burearucratically out of control." "Too much of the money that is getting spent in my estimation is getting eaten up in that bureaucracy, and that has to change." As a product of the UW System he remains loyal to it. He just wants reforms. "They're great. I just don't think they've been led very well."

Here's the audio.

Perking Up Petri

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Craig Gilbert made Congressman Tom Petri's valium-like droning seem like something semi-exciting. That, my friends, takes talent.

"Sleeping With the Enemy"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in 2006 WI GOP Convention at 04:39 PM | Comments (1)

Up Coming

Paul Bucher's whistle-blowing supporters (I'm blaming Jessica McBride for the idea) chased me out of the convention hall. Since neither Bucher nor J.B. Van Hollen will get the party's endorsement there's no need for me to be in the ballroom.

I recorded both Tommy Thompson's and Mark Green's speeches. Both were pretty good. I was impressed with Green's. I also recorded Green's press conference. As a bonus Green gave webloggers a few minutes to ask him questions. I'm working on writing those up and will try to get some audio posted.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in 2006 WI GOP Convention at 04:34 PM | Comments (1)

Tommy Was Here

The rumor of Tommy Thompson ditching the convention was false. He showed up, delivered the ra-ra speech he's good at, beat up Gov. Doyle, told everyone to support Mark Green, then promptly left town. Greg Bump guesses Tommy was in Appleton all of two hours.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in 2006 WI GOP Convention at 04:29 PM | Comments (0)

Mark Green on Ethics

A big issue in the governor's race will be ethics. Here are excerpts from Mark Green's upcoming speech:

Excerpts from Green's acceptance speech:
"Jim Doyle is so addicted . he's so addicted . to special interest cash that
when I asked him to agree to run a clean campaign and limit spending to $1
per Wisconsinite - that's five and a half million dollars - he wanted no
part of it.

"He's selling the soul of our state, and we're not going to stand for it
anymore!

"Jim Doyle and his crew say they want to keep Wisconsin moving forward, but
they just can't seem to grasp the fundamentals of what makes us different .
what makes us special . what makes us Wisconsin.

"They're stuck in the Madison mindset of minutiae and maneuvering.

"You are going to hear a lot from me in the coming months about what I think
is wrong about the Doyle administration . but it comes directly from a
deep-seated belief in what is right about Wisconsin.

"I believe we need to respect and fight for the values that made us what we
are. Values like faith and family, hard work, love of country, devotion to
the outdoor life.

"My friends, we will run with an agenda this is not only worthy of election,
but worthy of Wisconsin.

"I want to tap into the strength and character and ingenuity of our people.

"I want us thinking big again - not big government - but big ideas, big
dreams."

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in 2006 WI GOP Convention at 02:07 PM | Comments (0)

Walker Nominates Green

Scott Walker nominated Mark Green and received a standing ovation. The rank-and-file love Scott for bowing out of the Governor's race. Walker told the convention, "Jim Doyle is fundamentaly wrong for Wisconsin." "Jim Doyle doesn't beleive in anything except getting re-elected." Mark Green has an "uncommon level of common sense" and "has a plan to move our state forward."

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in 2006 WI GOP Convention at 02:05 PM | Comments (1)

Tommy Rumor

The current rumor floating around the convention is "Will Tommy Thompson will show up?" A Green staffer told me Tommy would be introducing Mark Green then they would do a joint press conference after Mark's speech. An hour later the rumor was Tommy wasn't in Appleton and wouldn't be coming. Tommy not showing up would be the first surprise at the convention, and it would be a big one with political watchers wondering. If Tommy shows up I wonder how fast he will leave. Word has it he has a flight scheduled late this afternoon.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in 2006 WI GOP Convention at 01:34 PM | Comments (0)

Mark Green on Taxes

Along with education taxes will play a prominent part in Mark Green's acceptance speech:

"We must stand strong for lowering the tax burden - because it's robbing families of their dreams and sapping this state of her strength.

"Wisconsin's tax burden is the 7th highest in the country. Our state and local taxes are nearly 10% more than the national average.

"Jim Doyle had his chance to help our taxpayers, and he failed.

"He failed by vetoing a property tax freeze three times in just three years, and now those taxes have risen another $600 million.

"He failed because our state's tax burden is tying an anchor to every entrepreneur, every senior, every graduate, every family. When they find the ladder of opportunity, big government is right there to hold them back and hold them down.

"But you and I are going to toss that weight aside - we won't stand for it any more.

"I support constitutional limits on taxes and spending on all levels of government; it's time we empower taxpayers with the right to simply say,
"no more!"

"It all boils down to this: I began this campaign with this simple pledge: Elect me as your governor, and Wisconsin's tax burden will improve, or I won't run for re-election. I'll keep my promise or step aside for someone who will."

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in 2006 WI GOP Convention at 12:05 PM | Comments (0)

Excerpts from Mark Green's Acceptance Speech

Around 2:30 p.m today, Tommy Thompson will introduce Mark Green. After the speech both will do a press conference.

Before that is the endorsement process. Scott Walker will nominate Green.

The Green campaign has released some excerpts from is acceptance speech. Mark will be pushing hard on education:

Excerpts from Green's acceptance speech:

"Under Governor Green, our schools will serve the needs of our families, not just the wish list of WEAC.

"Some of you know that Sue and I spent a year as volunteer teachers in Africa just after finishing college. Where we taught, education wasn't compulsory and it wasn't free.

"In our village, families had to pay a school fee for their children to attend. From time to time, the headmaster would appear in our classrooms and call out the names of the kids who hadn't paid, and they would have to leave. It was a heartbreaking thing to watch, but then something inspiring would happen . the same children who were removed from the classroom actually would quietly sneak back in.

"They were desperate to learn . all of our kids want to learn. I believe there is an innate desire in young people to learn. Unleashing their potential should be the goal of our schools - not just protecting tenure and fringe benefits for employees.

"Education funding will always be a top priority, but we'll also demand accountability. Good teachers, and there are lots of them, should have their pay based on merit - not on how long they occupy a chair.

"And our education dollars should actually reach our classrooms - not get lost in the bureaucracy.

"I know there are some out there who would wish away our education challenges, or sweep them under the rug. That won't happen on my watch.

"In Milwaukee Public Schools, only about one of out three African American children will graduate. And Wisconsin's achievement gap between white and minority students is among the worst in the nation.

"Jim Doyle is standing in the schoolhouse door, blocking thousands of families from their dreams. But you and I are going to kick the door in.

"We'll support charters, we'll support choice and we'll support home schooling . and we'll never settle for second best when it comes to our kids' education.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in 2006 WI GOP Convention at 11:51 AM | Comments (0)

Congressmen Speak

Elected officials get their moment to speak before the convention. Here are a few thoughts from the Congressmen.

Congressman Paul Ryan divided politicians into "doers" and "be-ers." The doers get elected because they want to push ideas and policies. The be-ers just like the power, perks, and privileges of power. Ryan admitted there were be-ers in the Republican Party. The 1st district Congressman went on to chide members of his party for their big-spending, pork barrel ways.

Congressman James Sensenbrenner received warm applause for his illegal immigration efforts. He gave the audience a little history lesson about a previous attempt to deal with illegal immigrants and warned Republicans who wanted to deal with Massachusetts' senior Senator. "When you go to bed with Ted Kennedy you get more than a good night's sleep." Sensenbrenner reiterated his illegal immigration points: demanding a secure border with a 700-mile fence; give local law enforcement in border states money to fight crime resulting from illegal immigrants and be well-armed to combat coyote smugglers. Sensenbrenner eagerly awaits the Senate to pass an immigration bill and considers the future conference to be the toughtest thing he's done in Congress.

Congressman Tom Petri: Zzzzzz.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in 2006 WI GOP Convention at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)

NRA Takes on Doyle

It sounds like there was a little more political passion in Milwaukee at the NRA meetings than at the state GOP convention in Appleton. In Milwaukee "Dump Doyle" signs were everywhere. In Appleton we got stuck with Tim Michels doing bad comedy.

"'Dump Doyle' Resounding Cry as Convention Opens"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 03:18 AM | Comments (1)

Judging the Hospitality Suites

Campaign hospitality suites are about offering food, drink (hard and soft), entertainment, and well hospitality. Some suites accomplished their mission better than others. Here are the first (and possibly only) TAM Hospitality Suite Awards.

Congressman Mark Green gets the overall award. It was called a "Tailgate Party" playing off the Green Bay Packers in Green's backyard and his "Green Team" of supporters. There was beer and soda but only some cheese, crackers, and pretzels. Hey, the guy needs to save his cash to beat the tar out of Gov. Jim Doyle. Charcoal grills filled with Green Team footballs were consistent with the tailgate theme. Bonus points were given for having a television on showing the Milwaukee Brewers game.

Congressman Paul Ryan claims the best food award. His spread had veggies, cheese, mini egg rolls, meatballs, and full cans of soda. When you don't have much competition in the fall you can afford some good eats at the convention.

Honorable mention goes to State Treasurer Jack Voight who was "sweet" enough to offer his guests a chocolate fountain. Chocolate-covered pineapple. Yum! Yum!

Paul Bucher takes the award for best entertainment. He had a three piece band jamming in his suite.

Jean Hundertmark gets an honorable mention for having a Frank Sinatra impersonator. She also gets major props for serving Leinie's Honey Weiss.

I'm sorry to say Terri McCormick lost major points for having karaoke.

In the all-important campaign knick-knack category we have a tie between Mark Green's little footballs

and Jean Hundertmark's plastic beer mugs

Mark and Jean are running on the same ticket so it's fitting.

Congratulations, winners. For the rest of you better luck next year...if you still have political careers that require hospitality suites.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in 2006 WI GOP Convention at 02:38 AM | Comments (3)

May 19, 2006

Michels Doesn't Announce Senate Run

Tim Michels gave a few remarks during Friday night's GOP convention banquet. After offering a few jokes he mentioned the "elephant in the living room" i.e. the possibility of Michels challenging Sen. Herb Kohl. Instead of announcing he was running he wanted convention goers to focus and appreciate all the hard work the state-wide candidates are doing. It appears he isn't running. The state GOP's search continues.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in 2006 WI GOP Convention at 07:37 PM | Comments (2)

USA Today Reporter Exposed

Leslie Cauley is the USA Today reporter who reported last week that the NSA was in cahoots with telephone companies to build a phone call database. She has also been very silent and has written nothing since BellSouth and Verizon claim her story is false. NewsBusters did a little research into her background:

A search found a listing for "writer and journalist" Leslie Cauley, indicating she gave $2,000 to Gephardt on June 30, 2003, when Gephardt was running for the Democratic presidential nomination. And that seems not to be her only tie to Democratic politics.

She also helped a Democratic big-wig write a book. That's more than can be said for Editor & Publisher's few paragraphs about her.

Before my right-wing knee-jerk readers shout, "See! See! She's biased! The story has to be fake!" realize this information doesn't mean the story's false. If the story is on par with RatherGate it tell us why Cauley ran so hard with a story based on anonymous sources that is being strongly denied by BellSouth and Verizon.

"USA Today Reporter a Democratic Donor; Phone Company Demands Retraction"

"Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before..."

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Surveillance at 03:10 PM | Comments (2)

Iraq Has a New Government...Sort Of

From Reuters:

Iraqi leaders have agreed on a national unity government to be presented to parliament on Saturday, negotiators said on Friday, adding that the key interior and defense ministries would be filled later.

"The government will be announced tomorrow," a senior aide to Prime Minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki told Reuters.

The aide said Maliki, a Shi'ite Islamist, would temporarily fill the post of interior minister for one week and that Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni, would take over defense, also for a week.

Parliament is scheduled to meet on Saturday to approve the government, ending months of political deadlock that followed elections in December.

No word on how long it will take to fill the defense and interior ministries. Baby steps forward are better than steps backward.

"Iraqis Agree on Government"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in War at 02:21 PM | Comments (0)

Quoting Tupac

Once upon a time Congressmen and Senators stood before their respective bodies and quoted from great thinkers like Cicero, Montesquieu, Washington, and Jefferson. My how have times changed. Behold the Capitol Police's favorite Congressman, Cynthia McKinney:

Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Chairman, the Congressional Black Caucus budget is a better statement for our country’s values. Educators are asking for a fully funded No Child Left Behind because America’s children are being left behind; seniors deserve accessible health care, but Medicare part D is leaving everyone confused; and veterans are only asking to receive the health care that recruiters promised them and that they deserve. But, you know, Tupac observed a long time ago that there’s money for war, but we can’t feed the poor.

"Come Back To Us, Cynthia McKinney"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 12:58 PM | Comments (1)

Kos Jumps Shark

It's really, really weird (even "surreal") seeing Markos Moulitsas AKA "Daily Kos" peeking (stalking) into someone's house then charging in with a few of his cult followers friends. People in Connecticut after seeing the ad will we wondering, "When did Jon Cryer care about our state's politics?"

Allahpundit is right. Ned Lamont, unintentionally, made a Mentos ad.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Weblogging at 12:40 PM | Comments (1)

Tim Michels Considering Senate Run

The Wisconsin GOP needs someone, anyone to run against Sen. Herb Kohl. When no one, not even Tommy Thompson who has the Badger State's biggest ego, will jump at the challenge go for a past loser. Tim Michels who ran a miserable general election against Sen. Russ Feingold two years ago is considering running again. WisPolitics interviewed State GOP chairman Rick Graber:

Ross: Have you talked to Tim lately, you know, about running for U.S. Senate?

Graber: Sure.

Ross: How are those conversations going?

Graber: Tim is very interested in the prospect. Certainly, as long as Tommy Thompson’s in the picture, it’s going to stall any final decisions. He knows the challenge. But, I think he’s interested. I think he’s interested. But it would have to be a different sort of campaign, a much shorter campaign, a more intense campaign. But, I like the political environment in the state of Wisconsin, notwithstanding all that’s going on nationally and all that you hear about problems for the Republican Party. I think things look very good in the state of Wisconsin for a very good year.

Ross: What kind of things would Tim have to do differently? What kind of campaign would Tim have to run against Herb Kohl? It’s now the middle of May, We’re talking six months.

Graber: A much shorter campaign. There obviously would be far less of a primary situation like we had a couple of years ago. I think the fact that it’s not a presidential year is an advantage for a challenger. If you think back a couple of years, this state was so dominated by the presidential election with all the ads and the presence of the candidates seemingly every single day. I think that the United States Senate race got in fact overshadowed. I think Russ Feingold ran perhaps his best campaign last time. But I think that whole Senate race got lost in the presidential domination.

Later, Graber goes goofy:

Ross: A big-time campaign and big-time money; does Tim Michels have that right now? Does he have the capability to do that?

Graber: I think he’s got the capability, sure, sure. And certainly a lot of that would have to come from personal resources. And certainly the national senatorial committee is interested in both Tommy Thompson and Tim Michels, as they are both well known. If either one of them were to jump into this race, I think that all of a sudden Wisconsin would become a very targeted state.

But the national folks, the national committee is very focused on retaining Republican control of both the Senate and the House. You get a big-name candidate like that, I think they’d pay attention.

With the GOP potentially losing both the House and Senate the "national folks" won't be wasting money on either Michels or Thompson against Kohl's fat wallet. Graber's living in la-la land.

"Interview with State GOP Chair Rick Graber"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 12:06 PM | Comments (2)

Offshore Oil Drilling Vote Count

Kudos go to Representatives Mark Green, Jim Sensenbrenner, and Paul Ryan for voting to open up more of the U.S. coast to oil drilling. To the rest of Wisconsin's House delegation: you have no integrity when talking about high gas prices.

UPDATE: Aaron @ Subject to Change humorously asks when drilling begins off Chicago. It won't happen because Great Lakes oil drilling was banned last year.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 11:41 AM | Comments (2)

Parsing Phone Company Statements

In a comment DJ left a link to The Technology Liberation Front which quotes from a subscription website that parses the BellSouth and Verizon denials that they help the NSA build a phone call database. Since we live in the Age of Clinton where we have to deeply examine the meaning of the word "is" it's no surprise the analysis depends are what terms the phone companies use.

The biggest weakness for the baby bells' denials was the amount of time it took for them to boldly declare they didn't assist the NSA. But that's just the cynic in me.

What I want to see is who is USA Today's anoynmous source. Does this person have any more information to help us get to the bottom of this? Does this source have an agenda with the Bush administration? Is this person even in a position to leak such sensitive information?

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Surveillance at 11:19 AM | Comments (2)

Mayor Barrett, Read the Damn Bill

Yesterday, instead of welcoming the NRA and its thousands of supporters to Milwaukee Mayor Tom "I am a Freedom Fighter" Barrett complained the civil rights organization--which the NRA is--opposes the government sharing gun trace information with among law enforcement by supporting H.R. 5005. Too bad that's not true. Read page 8, section 9.

"Lies from the Other Side"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 10:17 AM | Comments (0)

Charlie's Show Prep #99

• Any Congressman who voted to continue the ban on offshore drilling should never, ever complain about gas prices.

• The Senate voted to let illegal immigrants collect Social Security from their illegal jobs.

• Spivak & Bice dig into a local Islamic leader.

• Egypt is using riot police to quell protesters who are defending an independent judiciary.

• What would Jack Bauer do?

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 01:57 AM | Comments (4)

May 18, 2006

Romney Cancels Wisconsin Trip

Possible GOP Presidential candidate Gov. Mitt Romney canceled his keynote address at the Wisconsin GOP convention Friday night. Flooding in Massachusettes prevents him from attending. GOP national chairman Ken Mehlman will replace him Friday night.

"Romney Cancels State GOP Visit to Appleton"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in 2006 WI GOP Convention at 11:42 PM | Comments (0)

USA Today Retraction Demanded

BellSouth now wants USA Today to retract that it took part in a NSA phone database:

BellSouth Corp., the No. 3 U.S. local telephone company, on Thursday demanded USA Today retract claims in a story that said the company had a contract with a U.S. spy agency and turned over customers' telephone records.

BellSouth spokesman Jeff Battcher denied the company had a contract with the National Security Agency and did not give access or provide call records to the spy agency as part of an effort to thwart any terrorist plots.

USA Today reported last week that the NSA has had access to records of billions of domestic calls and collected tens of millions of telephone records from data provided by BellSouth, Verizon and AT&T Inc.

"BellSouth Demands USA Today Retract NSA Claims"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Surveillance at 11:00 PM | Comments (1)

Photo ID for Federal Elections

Sen. Mitch McConnell has an amendment to the immigration bill that would require voters to show photo ID before casting a ballot in a federal election. Since I don't think showing an ID is such a burden I have no problem with it.

Of course you will soon hear Democrats scream "disenfranchisement."

"Photo ID Required For Federal Elections?" [via Instapundit]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 09:44 PM | Comments (0)

McGee, Sr. Opens His Big Mouth Again

Michael McGee, Sr. is the most paranoid man I've ever heard on the radio. Patrick at Badger Blogger caught him rambling on about how his son Alderman Michael McGee, Jr. was cheated in athletic competitions and given bad grades just because he was a McGee. With all that oppression how did junior ever become an alderman? The Man must have let his guard down.

In response to his son being arrested for violating a restraining order McGee, Sr. rambled, "Vietnam Syndrome is going to take over and I'm going to go down there and mess up a bunch of them, that’s for sure." I'm still waiting for him to fulfill his threat to--paraphrasing Jonathan Coleman--roll burning tires down the freeways.

"McGee Sr. Blames Everyone Else"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 09:12 PM | Comments (0)

Pay to Play, Journal Sentinel Style

Charlie Sykes asked Milwaukee Journal Sentinel publisher Betsy Brenner if there would be a special section in the newspaper similar to the one when the NAACP came into town last year. Here's Brenner's response:

Charlie:

Journal Sentinel agrees to publish a special section around regional conventions when the convention organizers commit (in advance) to produce or underwrite at least three pages of advertising to support it.

Last year, the NAACP organizers did so well before the national meeting in Milwaukee. Their endorsement to their sponsors enabled us to publish a 22-page section, with 13+ pages of advertising. Total revenue generated by that section was over $60,000.

This year, the NRA organizers considered purchasing one full page – but as of today’s deadline for Friday’s paper, they’re not certain whether to proceed with it. One page isn’t enough to generate a section on our end, so we didn’t plan to publish one.

We will, of course, cover the NRA convention in the news columns of the paper.

-Betsy Brenner

I don't want to accuse the newspaper of being unethical, but to this layman's ears it sounds like an organization can buy a section of the newspaper. Publishing a daily newspaper costs a lot of money and the Journal Sentinel is part of a public company beholden to its stockholders--which probably haven't been too happy. Many magazines today have special advertising sections filled with articles that don't look like ads. Usually along the top of the pages it mentions it's a paid ad. The Journal Sentinel does something similar in its Sunday automotive section which is sponsored by local car dealers. Did the newspaper point out to its readers that the special section only existed because the NAACP funneled advertising their way? If the section on their website devoted to last year's convention is any indication the answer is no.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 08:49 PM | Comments (1)

NRA's Gun Pledge

Before their meetings have really begun the National Rifle Association has made news in Milwaukee:

The National Rifle Association said today it will ask all of the nation's mayors and police chiefs to sign a pledge stating they would never confiscate weapons from law-abiding citizens, such as in periods of emergency.

At a news conference, NRA officials said the initiative was prompted by what happened in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina where they said leaders ordered police to collect the guns amid the flooding and chaos.

In addition to the pledge request, unveiled this morning in an ad in USA Today, the group said it will seek state and federal legislation that would make it a crime for those in authority to take the guns.

It's no surprise the City of Milwaukee didn't take too kindly to the pledge:

"The rhetoric to say we are going to disarm law-abiding citizens is a little over the top," Deputy Police Chief Brian O'Keefe said at a City Hall news conference. Police have neither the time nor the legal authority to raid innocent citizens' homes and grab their guns, O'Keefe said.

As for New Orleans, O'Keefe said, he wasn't "aware of any widespread confiscations," but police did take guns from people who were threatening public safety, and Milwaukee police would do the same thing in the same circumstances.

Mr. O'Keefe needs to read Boots & Sabers who found this NY Times story that begins:

Waters were receding across this flood-beaten city today as police officers began confiscating weapons, including legally registered firearms, from civilians in preparation for a mass forced evacuation of the residents still living here.

No civilians in New Orleans will be allowed to carry pistols,