Call Him Flipper or Flopper
Oklahoma 1st District Congressman John Sullivan can not seem to make up his mind on the issue of individual assistance for victims of the December 2007 ice storm.
Back in December at a time when hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans were in the dark and cold in what is being described as the biggest natural disaster in Oklahoma history Sullivan was a vocal supporter of individual assistance to Oklahomans.
As a matter of fact Congress Sullivan speaking in December of individual aid said, “I am going to work very hard to try to secure that“.
In January, after FEMA had turned down Oklahoma’s request for individual assistance, Congressman Sullivan changed his tune. In January he mumbled, “It is important that we scrutinize the criteria FEMA uses to determine eligibility, so that the state can build a stronger case and ensure its allocation of federal resources are based on merit in the future“. In conjunction with that statement Sullivan pointed to stories about victims of Hurricane Katrina using their FEMA assistance to gamble and buy adult entertainment.
With Oklahoma appealing FEMA’s denial of individual assistance, Congressman Sullivan rather than using the influence of his office, assuming he has any influence at all, kicked off the month of February saying, “I am awaiting FEMA’s response to my January 17th letter, where, in an effort to bring more transparency to the federal disaster aid process, I asked them to outline the criteria they use to approve or deny a federal disaster assistance request“.
That was a remarkable flip-flop between December and Sullivan’s plan to “work very hard to try to secure” individual aid for disaster victims and February as Sullivan is sitting on his hands awaiting FEMA finding the time to get back with him regarding the agency’s criteria for granting or denying individual aid?
In light of Congressman Sullivan’s flip/flop on the issue of FEMA aid to Oklahomans it appears that he is hoping the folks back home don’t remember what he said back in December and that they believe that he is “doing something” that might help them pick up the pieces.
When it comes to Congressman Sullivan – just call him flipper.
Or maybe flopper would be more accurate…
