Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow marked the death of the 2500th American soldier by commenting, “It’s a number, and every time there’s one of these 500 benchmarks people want something.” Obviously, to the family, friends, and neighbors of the fallen service members, their loved ones are more than “a number”. It’s time for a new direction. The following are some more “numbers” that the American people would like to hear the Administration treat otherwise than utterly dismissively.

18,490: Number of American Troops Wounded in Iraq. [DoD Casualty Report, 6/15/06]

38,355: Minimum Number of Iraqis Killed. [iraqbodycount.org]

$8.8 Billion: Amount of Iraqi Reconstruction Funds the Military has Failed to Account for, According to the Defense Department’s Inspector General. [Boston Globe, 4/6/06]

68: Journalists Killed in Iraq. [Brookings Institution, 6/15/06]

2.2 Million: Active Duty Soldiers and Veterans at Risk of Identity Theft. [Washington Post, 6/11/06]

382: Days Since Vice President Cheney Claimed the Insurgency Was in its “Last Throes”. [CNN.com, 5/30/05]

1,140: Days Since President Bush Declared “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq. [CNN, 5/2/2003]

37 Million: People Living in Poverty in the United States. [U.S. Census Bureau]

13 Million: Children Living in Poverty in the United States. [U.S. Census Bureau]

$8,375,365,051,008.48: The Public Debt. [Treasury Department, 06/14/2006]

45.8 Million: Americans without Health Insurance. [U.S. Census Bureau]

$16,000: Median Debt of Graduates of Public Colleges. [New York Times, 6/11/06]

$20,000: Median Debt of Graduates of Private Colleges. [New York Times, 6/11/06]

$36 Billion: ExxonMobil’s Profits Last Year. [Reuters, 5/31/06]

1: Chief of Staff to the Vice President Indicted. [MSNBC, 6/9/06]

See? Just numbers.