Good Mornin’! Good Mornin’!
In 1993, Bennie Thompson, a congressional neophyte, voted against HR2445, a bill that helped with flood control projects across the United States. That bill eventually passed but it set a course for the new congressman. The former supervisor for Hinds County is known for his liberal lean and doesn’t seem to understand how flooding and math work.
The cost to build the pump system for the South Delta was estimated at $500 million. But with inflation and supply chain issues, I’m sure that number has increased. But the damage from the flooding over a 10-year period from 2008 to 2018 was $372 million. The 2019 flood alone cost the region over a billion dollars.
Peter Nimrod, chief engineer of the Mississippi Levee Board, is on record with his thoughts on the matter.
“The pumps will pay for themselves in no time. The math is simple and everyone knows it,” Nimrod said.
But here we are with an incumbent who has flip-flopped on the matter and won’t look at the numbers it seems. In February of 2020 he issued a press release asking for funding for the pumps in an appropriations cycle. From his own press release, Thompson implores the critical nature of getting pumps in place for his constituents.
"This project is of critical importance for the 2nd Congressional District of Mississippi," Thompson said. “These issues of flooding have persisted over the years and have worsened as evidenced by the aftermath of a severe tornado storm last year. There continues to be flooding along the lower Mississippi River and the backwater area spanning over the last 10 years."
He even sided with farmers.
"This issue is not only impacting the homes and livelihood of constituents when we experience high flood levels, but farmers in Mississippi are heavily impacted as well," continued Thompson. "The big economic blow will fall on farmers in the area. With agriculture being an immense economic source, specifically in my district, it is vital for us to remedy this problem."
But then Bennie lost his calculator and came home to his liberal leanings and did a 180 on the pumps. He wrote a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan in November of 2021 stating, “critical concerns raised by career staff scientists were ignored,” and “it is critical that science and law, not politics, drive infrastructure projects,” and finally, “I request that your office conduct an immediate and comprehensive review of the process that led to EPA’s issuance of the referenced letter to the Corps. If you find that any current or previous agency staff intentionally violated the law or ignored critical scientific evidence during the process, I ask that they be held to swift account.”
Bennie said science should lead and not politics. Does he not own any mirrors as well as calculators? He’s the one being political. Look in the mirror, Bennie. In another flip-flop, Bennie chastised Governor Reeves in August of 2021 for not asking for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) help with the flooding in June that devastated farmers.
“The June storms that deluged my district had significant impacts on my constituents. The flooding devastated more than 20 Mississippi counties, damaging over 500 homes and 250 public roads and buildings. In excess of 20 inches of rain fell in one affected county. A National Weather Service meteorologist observed, ‘Over 7 inches of rain in one day should only happen once every 200 years.’ To have it happen twice in two days is just incredible.’”
Hey, Bennie, what about that time in 2019 when 548,000 acres were submerged for 150 days? Build the pumps, Bennie. It’s in your hands to help folks, lots of folks. Build the pumps then you can go back to your liberal merry-go-round.
Unless you get voted out of office, maybe the next guy’s calculator will work better.
