LONG GAME: China Talks With Venezuela Opposition to Protect Investments. “Chinese diplomats discuss debt, oil projects with Guaidó camp as pressure mounts against ally Maduro.”

Chinese diplomats, worried over the future of its oil projects in Venezuela and nearly $20 billion that Caracas owes Beijing, have held debt negotiations in Washington in recent weeks with representatives of Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader heading the U.S.-backed efforts to oust Mr. Maduro, according to people familiar with the talks.

“China recognizes the increasing risk of a regime change and does not want to be on the bad side of a new regime,” said R. Evan Ellis, an expert on Chinese relations in Latin America at the U.S. Army War College. “While they prefer stability, they realize they have to put eggs in the other basket.”

The talks are a sign of the apprehensions building with creditors of Venezuela’s leftist government. Over nearly two decades, loans-for-oil deals with China and Russia have provided vital support for Venezuela. Relations flourished under Mr. Maduro’s predecessor, the late socialist strongman Hugo Chávez, who fortified ties with those countries, Cuba, Iran and even India in an effort to combat U.S. power.

It wonder what kind of guarantees Guaidó Might accept in exchange for the threat of balking on the Chavista debts to Beijing. They might be worth it, to gain additional leverage in trade talks with China.

ROBERT VERBRUGGEN: The Upside of ‘Sabotaging’ Obamacare.

DAVID HARSANYI: Political Journalists Are Trying To Gaslight America.

During President Trump’s speech in El Paso yesterday, a Vox writer feigned indignation and claimed that “Trump falsely accuses Ralph Northam” of saying the governor supports “a newborn baby [coming] out into the world, and wrap the baby, make the baby comfortable, and then talk to the mother and talk to the father and then execute the baby. Execute the baby!”

Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, retweeted the claim to her million followers. To put this in perspective, Haberman’s following on Twitter is nearly as large as the Times’ daily weekday circulation.

No doubt Trump’s rhetoric is prone to exaggeration. In this instance, however, he was precise. For one thing, the sponsor of the Repeal Act, Virginia Democratic Del. Kathy Tran, acknowledged that her bill allowed abortion through a woman dilating during birth. “My bill would allow that, yes,” she said. For another, we have recording of the governor of Virginia describing the process in which babies who survive abortion attempts can be terminated if the mother and doctor decide the life is inconvenient.

“I can tell you exactly what would happen,” Northam said. “The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and family desired. And then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”

You might be turned off by Trump’s use of the word “execute,” but his contention is accurate. Haberman, who is ostensibly an unbiased professional journalist, has yet to explain why she would forward an obvious falsehood to her many readers.

Because she can.

CHRISTIAN TOTO: Hollywood Stars Mum on Northam, Fairfax and Omar. “Modern Hollywood has never been so vocal.”

Weird, that.

ESTABLISHING THE NARRATIVE: Trump ‘Not Happy’ With Border Security Agreement, Says Another Shutdown Would Be Dems’ Fault. “They are hurting our country very badly.”

PROTECTION: Real estate isn’t all cheery open houses and glitzy listings. Here’s why 1 in 6 agents carries a gun.

Scott Smith works as a real estate agent in Baltimore. He’s in and out of properties every day, never knowing what he could encounter. He protects himself thanks to a concealed carry permit he received legally.

Smith, who has also worked as a firearms instructor, says he’s never used the gun he legally carries when he’s conducting business. But he trains regularly so he’s prepared, knowing fellow real estate agents who have been assaulted or robbed in the course of just doing their jobs. Smith has had his own scare.

“I was completely taken off guard,” he explained. “There was a person hiding in the house. Actually they were hiding in the shower. I had no clue they were there, and that was obviously pretty scary.”

Real estate, by its very nature, is an industry that comes with some risk. Real estate agents regularly visit homes with floor plans they’ve never seen. They often meet strangers at the homes they’re trying to sell. A 2018 report from the National Association of Realtors showed 33 percent of those surveyed experienced a situation that made them fear for their safety. The survey reported 5 percent of respondents claimed they’d been the victim of crime at work.

John Smaby is a Minnesota Realtor who grew up in real estate thanks to a Realtor father. He’s been in the industry for decades and was recently installed as the new president of the NAR.

Smaby told Circa, “The real estate business is really an individual business, so we many times meet people in places that could put ourselves in peril. We can’t do it blind.”

Smart.

BUT THE NARRATIVE! Study Shows Voter ID Laws Don’t Stop People Voting.

The new research, from an economics professor at the University of Bologna and another at Harvard Business School, indicates that “strict” voting laws of the type implemented in those ten states do not have a statistically significant effect on voter turnout.

To determine this, the professors took advantage of different timing of the implementation of voter ID laws in different states to construct a “difference-in-differences” analysis, looking at how voters behave in states that do and do not have strict voter ID laws, before and after those laws were implemented. They used data from the progressive data service Catalist, “a U.S. company that provides data and data-related services to progressive organizations and has a long history of collaborating with academics.”

The data from Catalist contained both demographic information—age, sex, race, and party affiliation—as well as information on whether or not a surveyed person was actually registered. This means that the paper’s authors could test whether or not voter ID not only stopped registered voters from voting, but discouraged unregistered voters from registering.

“Strict ID laws have no significant negative effect on registration or turnout, overall or for any subgroup defined by age, gender, race, or party affiliation,” the paper’s authors found.

“Most importantly,” they write, strict ID laws “do not decrease the participation of ethnic minorities relative to whites. The laws’ overall effects remain close to zero and non-significant whether the election is a midterm or presidential election, and whether the laws are the more restrictive type that stipulate photo IDs.”

I haven’t figured out exactly how this is racist, but I’m sure it must be.

INTERVIEW: Tyler Cowen’s Gospel of Prosperity. “The George Mason University economist and Marginal Revolution founder explains why a richer world is a better world.”

SORRY NOT SORRY: Ilhan Omar Praises Dem Activist Calling AIPAC ‘Central Pillar of the Occupation’ After Apologizing for Anti-Semitic Tweets.

I LOVE A HAPPY ENDING: ISIS executioner who murdered prisoner in beheading video is killed by tank blast during battle for terror group’s last pocket of territory.

REPORT: Chicago Police considering charging Jussie Smollett with filing a false report.

PROTECTION RACKET: FCA Paid $77 Million in Civil Penalties to Sell Cars People Actually Want to Buy.

In December, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a report claiming the industry faced millions in fines from 2016 and that one manufacturer was expected to pay significant civil penalties.

You can probably guess which one. But FCA is by no means the only automaker affected by stringent fuel rulings.

The NHTSA said the number of automakers with emission credit shortfalls rose to 26 in 2016. For some perspective, 2011 was a terrible year for automakers, with 18 companies coming up short for a industry penalty of around $40 million. It’s clear the automotive sector is having real trouble meeting the rising emissions rules and less clear what should be done about it.

Despite initially agreeing to the aggressive, Obama-era fuel economy mandates, automakers were quick to meet with Donald Trump and ask that national efficiency rules be rolled back at the start of his term. While several companies eventually changed their position, there’s a growing assumption that the established targets will, for many, remain out of reach.

That’s because not enough motorists want to buy what Washington, in its infinite knowledge, insists they should buy. The resulting fines aren’t a problem to be solved, but rather an excellent opportunity for graft.

OH: FBI scrambled to respond to Hillary Clinton lawyer amid Weiner laptop review, newly released emails show.

The trove of documents turned over by the FBI, in response to a lawsuit by the transparency group Judicial Watch, also included discussions by former FBI lawyer Lisa Page concerning a potential quid-pro-quo between the State Department and the FBI — in which the FBI would agree to downgrade the classification level of a Clinton email in exchange for more legal attache positions that would benefit the agency abroad. There was no indication such a quid-pro-quo ever took place.

And, in the face of mounting criticism aimed at the FBI, the documents revealed that Comey quoted the 19th century poet Ralph Waldo Emerson by assuring his subordinates, “To be great is to be misunderstood.”

The FBI did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment on the released emails.

Much more at the link.

ANTISOCIAL MEDIA: Social media use could make it harder to make friends, study says.

ENGLISH LIBERTY: Motorist who mounted ‘laser jammer’ on BMW to block speed cameras is jailed.

A businessman who attached a “laser jammer” to his BMW to block speed cameras has been locked up for THREE MONTHS.

Michael Twizell, 58 – who installed the device which works by blocking the signals that track how fast cars are travelling – was also ordered to pay a £1,500 fine for perverting the course of justice.

Police officers started investigating him when their device recorded an error code when he drove passed a police safety camera van last February on the A658 near Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

It was established that he was using a device on the front of his BMW 3-series that illegally interfered with police camera equipment.

Plus:

Speaking after the hearing, Traffic Constable Andy Forth, from the Traffic Bureau Investigations team at North Yorkshire Police, said: “To use a device which is capable of interfering with police speed measurement is clearly as shown today a very serious matter.

Good to know where Britain’s priorities are.

DEBRA HEINE: Former Obama Border Patrol Chief Slams Dem Plan to Reduce Bed Space for Criminal Aliens. “He said the plan would lead to the creation of a ‘sanctuary country’.”

Feature, not a bug.

BRUCE BAWER: Anti-Americanism: As German as Apple Strudel. “Germans overwhelmingly dislike the United States, and it’s not about Trump.”

Going back to Spengler’s piece on German anti-patriotism from yesterday, as a teen I had a lengthy conversation with a West German gentlemen who told me that he was convinced Reagan (this was during the 1984 election) wanted nuclear war in Europe. But he didn’t seem to care much one way or the other about the outcome.

SURE, ONCE WE HAVE THE POPULATION DENSITY OF FRANCE OR MAYBE JAPAN: Is high-speed rail in the US ever going to happen?

A lengthy article which comes down, in the end, to mindless cheerleading for the Green New Deal:

The myriad benefits of high-speed rail go far beyond the strict monetary alternative to cars and planes. For one thing, most high-speed trains are electric, and as energy generation moves away from fossil fuels, this means rail becomes significantly greener than airplanes or cars — which is why Democrats like Ocasio-Cortez included it as part of the Green New Deal. Then there are the benefits to the communities along the route, and the jobs created during construction and during use.

Maybe we could power the trains with cow farts and kill two birds with one stone.

RUN ALL THE CANDIDATES! De Blasio headed to New Hampshire amid 2020 speculation.

“He’ll do to America what he did to New York City” doesn’t seem like a very good campaign theme.

LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Omar is sorry, deal or no deal, and much, much more. “What does this even mean, that El Paso is safe IN SPITE OF walls? There are walls all over the place in the U.S., like in banks, hospitals, state houses…? Beto’s house has walls. When Beto was a congressman, there were all kinds of walls to get into the building where his office was in Washington D.C., is he kidding?”

ENDGAME: Even in barrios once devoted to Hugo Chavez, murmurs of opposition grow in Venezuela.

Before Venezuela’s economy began to crumble a few years back, generous government allocations of subsidized food and housing, cash payouts and other amenities helped build and maintain a sturdy citadel for Chavez in La Vega and other government strongholds.

On Jan. 23, however, as opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido publicly declared Maduro a “usurper” and proclaimed himself acting president, some La Vega residents descended to the streets in solidarity. A fearsome elite police squad, the Special Action Force, known as FAES, after its Spanish acronyms, violently broke up the anti-government demonstration, residents say.

But the fact that poor people here and elsewhere took to the streets in protest is seen by some as a sign of a grass-roots political shift in this long-polarized South American nation of 32 million.

“This whole barrio used to be Chavista, but not anymore,” said Karina Monterola, 44, who has lived in La Vega since she was a child. “Why? Because there is hunger, a lack of water, all kinds of shortages. … The minimum wage isn’t enough to afford to eat — much less to buy clothing, or even an ice cream for my daughter.”

Socialism is popular until the other people’s money runs out.

PLUS: Venezuelan Colonel Urges Soldiers To Help US Aid Enter, Says 90% Of Army Against Maduro.

SORRY NOT SORRY: Dem Rep. Omar apologizes for Israel comments, calls out ‘problematic’ role of AIPAC, ‘other lobbyists.’

“Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes,” Omar wrote in a statement posted to Twitter. “My intention is never to offend my constituents or Jewish Americans as a whole. We have to always be willing to step back and think through criticism, just as I expect people to hear me when others attack me for my identity. This is why I unequivocally apologize.”

“At the same time,” she added, “I reaffirm the problematic role of lobbyists in our politics, whether it be AIPAC [the American Israel Public Affairs Committee], the [National Rifle Association] or the fossil fuel industry. It’s gone on too long and we must be willing to address it.”

Translation: “In the future my offensive remarks will be more selective.”

BREAKING: Budget deal calls for far less border wall money.

Three people familiar with Congress’ tentative border security deal tell The Associated Press that the accord would provide $1.375 billion to build 55 miles of new border barriers.

That’s well below the $5.7 billion President Donald Trump demanded to build over 200 miles of wall along the Mexican boundary. The money will be for vertical steel slats called bollards, not a solid wall.

Democrats dropped their proposal to limit the number of detained immigrants caught inside the U.S. to a daily average of 16,500. Republicans opposed that demand. There is currently no such limit.

Bargainers agreed to fund 40,520 beds to detain immigrants entering or in the U.S. illegally. That’s the same number funded last year, though the actual figure held is around 49,000.

The sources described details of the still-secret agreement only on condition of anonymity.

That doesn’t look like a very good deal for Trump, but none of this is official yet so we’ll see.

UPDATE: Increasing discussion in WH of accepting congressional deal AND moving on an executive action, which would give POTUS more wall money than choosing one or the other.

M. CATHARINE EVANS: The Virginia train wreck has set the stage for 2020.

Thanks to Virginia’s embroiled leaders, the Democrats have become not only the party of drugs, human-trafficking, open borders, MS-13, a Green New Deal, and socialism; they have now outed themselves as the Party of Infanticide, Racism, the KKK, Sexism (“F— the B—-“), and Rapists.

President Trump and the Republican Party should get a lot of mileage out of the Racist & Rapist party’s double standard. There’s little doubt among conservatives in Virginia and across the nation that if these were three Republican leaders simultaneously being accused of racism and rape, Antifa, MoveOn, Black Lives Matter, the NAACP, and #MeToo would be blocking traffic, threatening riots, and surrounding the capitol in Richmond until all three resigned.

In spite of the Democrats’ long history of getting away with everything, including murder (Ted Kennedy), the explosive and quickly moving chain of events in Virginia these past few weeks has made ignoring this political earthquake impossible for the media.

Yes, but… in recent years the media has largely taken a different tack on stories too big too ignore, but too damaging to their (D) friends:

• Coverage that’s as perfunctory as can be gotten away with

• Framed whenever possible as a (D)-said/(R)-said “controversy”

• In which “Republicans Pounce!”

• While applying no direct pressure on (D) for an investigation/resignation/etc

• And then when nothing like an investigation or resignation happens, present the story, if at all, as “old news.”

Oh, and one last thing. “Old news” is usually combined with “Republicans still obsessed with ‘old news’.”

It’s dirty work, but our media elites seem to thrive on it.

WHATEVER: Dem. Rep. Al Green Blames Trump for Ralph Northam Scandal, Urges Impeachment. “Va. Gov.’s refusal to resign is a symptom of Trump’s bigotry, Congressman says.”

When Republicans do something dumb, it’s because Republicans are evil. When Democrats do something dumb, it’s because Republicans are evil.