Maria Santos is a journalist who contributed to The Weekly Standard during 2013–2014, covering congressional politics and policy debates. Her reporting focused on legislative developments including immigration reform, healthcare policy, and key House and Senate races. She was a prolific contributor to the magazine's political news coverage during her tenure.
Barbara Comstock, the Republican House candidate for Virginia’s diverse Tenth congressional district in the suburbs and exurbs of Washington, lost the first thing she ever ran for: a spot on her high school cheerleading team. “After that, I was like ‘I’m never doing anything again,’” she jokes.
Like a lot of people, I used to hate dancing in public. But unlike most people, I have professional ballroom dancers for parents. When you regularly lose your father in the grocery store only to find him practicing waltz turns down the bread aisle, a fear of public dancing is not sustainable.
Poll: Penalties drove healthcare sign-ups.
America is not Amerika.
A thank you to the class of 2014.
Birmingham, Ala.
Former FDNY commissioner reflects on the 9/11 museum.
Inequality myths.
RIP, Keystone XL.
Tips for the war on poverty.
"The Real Africa."
Ethan Epstein on the human rights activist running for Congress.
Boko Haram and the problem of corruption.
Why you shouldn't tune out Benghazi news.
A taste of Gov. O'Malley's Reddit flop.
A PA union ad about how liquor privatization kills children.
Beware the pomegranate.
"France is not impressed with Thomas Piketty."
Trigger warning: mansplaining and unchecked privilege.
A culture of conformity.
Kristen Day has just sent an email thanking a Democratic state representative in Michigan for supporting a bill banning abortion funding in Obamacare. He’s grateful for her note—she’s only the second person to thank him. “It’s a really lonely road, to be a pro-life Democrat,” she remarks.
"In defense of political lying."
The downfall of Obama's Pay As You Earn student loan program.
A case against affirmative action.
Don’t ban e-cigarette flavors for the children.
Fox poll: about six in ten voters think Obama lies about important matters some or most of the time.
The nicest homicidal white supremacist.
Why aren’t feminists backing Ayaan Hirsi Ali?
Passover, a festival of freedom.
What Ayaan Hirsi Ali would have said at Brandeis.
John Podhoretz: “The Shame of Brandeis.”
On Eich, dissidence, and totalitarianism.
“We have a responsibility to make sure Jeb runs.”
Rebecca Kleefisch, the Republican lieutenant governor of Wisconsin, likes to talk about butter. By the time we’re done talking, I know exactly how to buy a month’s worth from a Wisconsin Kwik Trip—and what Kleefisch thinks that has to do with Republican politics.
An interview with George W. Bush on his new art…
National Review interviews McConnell on his role in McCutcheon.
Leland Yee and the hypocrisy of the media.
For the left, error has no rights.
Military veterans give Obama bad grades.
“Is your fortune teller licensed?”
Schumer calls the Iran deal a mistake.
The nuclear ballroom.
Scott Pruitt vs. prairie chicken.
The White House really doesn’t want to talk about FLOTUS’s China trip.
What can Obama’s resolve accomplish against Putin?
Average premiums are up 39-56 percent under Obamacare.
Beyond the spin, the numbers are stacked against Obama.
Daniel Gade lost his right leg in Iraq. But Gade, an assistant professor of political science at the U.S. Military Academy, does not consider himself disabled. Instead, he uses himself as an example of how the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs often inaccurately assesses disability.
Jeff Sessions’s plan for the GOP.
HHS quietly suspends the individual mandate.
Jolly wins in Florida.
How not to help the uninsured.
Representative Kerry Bentivolio once said, “I have a problem figuring out which one I really am, Santa Claus or Kerry Bentivolio. All my life I have been told I’m Kerry Bentivolio, and now I am a Santa Claus, so now I prefer to be Santa Claus.” Bentivolio, a 62-year-old freshman Republican from…
New surveys: Obamacare signs up few uninsured.
Report: Obama “sabotaged” Kerry’s peace efforts in Israel.
Poll: one in three Americans believe they've been harmed by Obamacare.
Where did Yanukovych’s money go?
The House voted Tuesday night to pass Congressman Chris Smith’s (R-N.J.) No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which expands bans on federal funding of abortions and requires that the Obamacare insurance exchanges clearly describe which plans cover abortion.
"Tables turn on the Michigan tea party”; “Business to tea party: Get out of our way”; “Donors Plot Against GOP Rebel”: Judging by the headlines, next year’s Republican primary in Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District is shaping up as a referendum on the conservative incumbent’s dogged adherence to…
Gwen Graham, a Democratic candidate challenging Florida GOP congressman Steve Southerland, tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that she backs the Keep Your Health Plan Act.
When two Republicans, Sam Johnson and John Carter, deserted a bipartisan immigration reform group this month, the death knell did not sound for immigration reform. One group may have collapsed, but 84 House Republicans have publicly voiced support for granting some type of legal status to the 11…
Catholics across the country are now hearing their priests and bishops urging them to reform—not just their immortal souls, but immigration policy. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is promoting an extensive effort to persuade their congregations to back comprehensive…
Women Speak for Themselves, a grassroots organization of more than 40,000 women for religious freedom, gathered today at Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. to protest enforcement of the Health and Human Services mandate, which requires employers (including some religious institutions) to cover…
On Tuesday night, a small bipartisan group of senators met at the White House to discuss plans to fix the interest rates on student loans. The exact details of the plan are still being drafted, but a formal release is expected soon.