Interpretation

“‘Your interpreter is way more important than your weapon,’ Cory Schulz, an Army major who led a tactical team embedded with Afghan troops in Paktika Province, told me. With an interpreter, he explained, you can command hundreds of Afghan soldiers; with a gun, you can only defend yourself.” – Excerpted from “Maladies of Interpreters,” an op-ed written by Joshua Foust in the Sept. 21 New York Times

50

Number of visas available to Iraq and Afghan citizens who serve the United States military as interpreters, cut from 500 available last year

24

Percent of Texas residents without health insurance, the highest in the country (Massachusetts has 4 percent without insurance)

75

Percent of uninsured who earn less than 75 percent of the federal poverty level ($32,500 for single and $66,160 for family of four)

50

Percent who are childless adults

24,000

Dollars, the projected average annual cost of a family health insurance policy in 10 years if premiums continue to rise at the rate of the last five years

$13,375

Average annual cost of a family health insurance policy today

5

The number of lawmakers since 2007 who have left office in mid-term to work for lobbying firms

5.6 million

The number of stay-at-home moms in the United States

32

Percent who have at least a bachelor’s degree

165,000

Number of stay-at-home dads

Sources: New York Times; Center for Responsive Politics; Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation; Health Research & Educational Trust