Reality or radio racism? In his own words. . .

Posted: October 04, 2005

From the Sept. 28 broadcast of Salem Radio Network's "Bill Bennett's Morning in America":

Caller: . . . I've read articles in recent months here, that the abortions that have happened since Roe v. Wade, the lost revenue from the people who have been aborted in the last thirty-something years, could fund Social Security as we know it today. And the media just doesn't - never touches this at all. . . .

Bennett: . . . I would not argue for the pro-life position based on this, because you don't know. I mean, it cuts both - you know, one of the arguments in this book Freakonomics [by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner] . . . is that . . . one of the reasons crime is down is that abortion is up. . . .

Caller: Well, I don't think that statistic is accurate.

Bennett: Well, I don't think it is, either. . . . But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could - if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky.

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