tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12180121.post112809343743355839..comments2023-10-17T08:48:04.114-04:00Comments on Not Shady, Just Fierce: Morning Edition - 9/30/05Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10988868216271744389noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12180121.post-1128097693726597622005-09-30T12:28:00.000-04:002005-09-30T12:28:00.000-04:00Addressing a caller's suggestion that the "lost re...Addressing a caller's suggestion that the "lost revenue from the people who have been aborted in the last 30 years" would be enough to preserve Social Security's solvency, radio host and former Reagan administration Secretary of Education Bill Bennett dismissed such "far-reaching, extensive extrapolations" by declaring that if "you wanted to reduce crime ... if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down." Bennett conceded that aborting all African-American babies "would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do," then added again, "but the crime rate would go down."<BR/><BR/><BR/>Bennett's remark was apparently inspired by the claim that legalized abortion has reduced crime rates, which was posited in the book Freakonomics (William Morrow, May 2005) by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. But Levitt and Dubner argued that aborted fetuses would have been more likely to grow up poor and in single-parent or teenage-parent households and therefore more likely to commit crimes; they did not put forth Bennett's race-based argument.<BR/><BR/>From the September 28 broadcast of Salem Radio Network's Bill Bennett's Morning in America:<BR/><BR/>CALLER: I noticed the national media, you know, they talk a lot about the loss of revenue, or the inability of the government to fund Social Security, and I was curious, and 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 30-something years, could fund Social Security as we know it today. And the media just doesn't -- never touches this at all.<BR/><BR/>BENNETT: Assuming they're all productive citizens?<BR/><BR/>CALLER: Assuming that they are. Even if only a portion of them were, it would be an enormous amount of revenue.<BR/><BR/>BENNETT: Maybe, maybe, but we don't know what the costs would be, too. I think as -- abortion disproportionately occur among single women? No.<BR/><BR/>CALLER: I don't know the exact statistics, but quite a bit are, yeah.<BR/><BR/>BENNETT: All right, well, I mean, I just don't know. 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 that they make is that the declining crime rate, you know, they deal with this hypothesis, that one of the reasons crime is down is that abortion is up. Well --<BR/><BR/>CALLER: Well, I don't think that statistic is accurate.<BR/><BR/>BENNETT: Well, I don't think it is either, I don't think it is either, because first of all, there is just too much that you don't know. 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.<BR/><BR/>Bill Bennett's Morning in America airs on approximately 115 radio stations with an estimated weekly audience of 1.25 million listeners.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12180121.post-1128096855478118212005-09-30T12:14:00.000-04:002005-09-30T12:14:00.000-04:00I'd call you.I'd tell you that I love you.I'd tell...I'd call you.<BR/>I'd tell you that I love you.<BR/>I'd tell you that I'll always be there - in the rising of the sun, in the chirping of the birds, in the smile of a baby...<BR/>I'd tell you to remember me.<BR/>I'd tell you that you mattered.<BR/><BR/>In response to the comments made by Bennett...sometimes it's best to let some folks speak and be heard because their comments speak for themselves. In 2005 Bennett doesn't warrant a response. His comments call for reflection. Ignorance and hatred don't always need to be analyzed, they sometimes stand alone as a marker of cruel intolerance. All should be forced to look at Bennett's comments and reflect on what they make us feel, think of and act on. Now we should all be able to move forward with more respect for humanity as a whole - any else, as Bennett has proven, is moronic.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10988868216271744389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12180121.post-1128096210044247572005-09-30T12:03:00.000-04:002005-09-30T12:03:00.000-04:00Although for me this is very touching & something ...Although for me this is very touching & something I would hate to ever have to do my answer is as follows: <BR/><BR/>I am calling my daughter Vio <BR/>"I love you, remember what mommy taught you, belive in yourself & remember the Lion King movie I am with you always & so is mama.<BR/><BR/>I love you always". <BR/><BR/>KrissyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12180121.post-1128095835679419312005-09-30T11:57:00.000-04:002005-09-30T11:57:00.000-04:00ACTUALLY HE SAID "IF YOU WANT TO REDUCE CRIME IN A...ACTUALLY HE SAID "IF YOU WANT TO REDUCE CRIME IN AMERICA, AND THAT WERE YOUR SOLE PURPOSE, THEN ABORT EVERY BLACK BABY BORN IN AMERICA". THEN HE WENT ON TO SAY THAT "IT WOULD BE IMMORAL, BUT IT IS TRUE". HE SAID THAT THE REASON CRIME WAS DECLINING WAS THAT ABORTIONS WERE INCREASING. WILLIAM BENNET WAS THE FORMER SECRETARY IF EDUCATION. I HAVE NO COMMENTAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12180121.post-1128094704145665032005-09-30T11:38:00.000-04:002005-09-30T11:38:00.000-04:00Donya, I couldn't access the story, want to give u...Donya, I couldn't access the story, want to give us the gist of what the comments were?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10988868216271744389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12180121.post-1128094376598645512005-09-30T11:32:00.000-04:002005-09-30T11:32:00.000-04:00I have an on Blast question. What should be done ...I have an on Blast question. What should be done about the very recent comments of William Bennett. If you don't know what I am talking about please read this article (http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Politics/story?id=1171385&page=1)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17413292695627539582noreply@blogger.com