logo
How Tesla stands to suffer from Elon Musk's big bet on Republicans

How Tesla stands to suffer from Elon Musk's big bet on Republicans

Boston Globe2 days ago

Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.
Enter Email
Sign Up
Also in the past few weeks, the House and Senate
adopted California's rule.
Advertisement
While California is vowing to fight the move in court, other states are backing off voluntarily. Last week, the Healey administration said it
Advertisement
The loss of California and other states' minimum EV sales rules could hit Tesla hardest of all. That's because under the rules, car makers that can't meet the minimum sales threshold must buy credits from car makers that sold more than the minimum. And since Tesla only sells EVs and is well above the minimum required, it has been raking in billions of dollars a year selling credits to rival car companies.
In the first quarter, Tesla made $595 million (of almost pure profit) by selling credits. Its net income for the quarter
Even before the Republican policy moves, Tesla sales were under pressure amid
Lately, Musk is
Aaron Pressman can be reached at

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

My fellow Republicans, the responsibility to speak out rests with you
My fellow Republicans, the responsibility to speak out rests with you

Washington Post

time41 minutes ago

  • Washington Post

My fellow Republicans, the responsibility to speak out rests with you

Jeff Flake, a Republican, represented Arizona in the U.S. Senate from 2013 to 2019 and the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013. When I served in the Senate during President Donald Trump's first term, I often raised concerns about his administration's policy choices and the coarsening of our political discourse. But what worried me most was the erosion of U.S. leadership on the global stage.

SAVE Student Loan Borrowers Likely Won't Make Payments This Year, but Should Do This One Thing Now
SAVE Student Loan Borrowers Likely Won't Make Payments This Year, but Should Do This One Thing Now

CNET

time42 minutes ago

  • CNET

SAVE Student Loan Borrowers Likely Won't Make Payments This Year, but Should Do This One Thing Now

Pla2na/Getty Images/CNET It's been a trying year for anyone enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education student loan repayment plan. There's been a barrage of student loan updates in 2025: proposed changes to Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility, an effort to restart collections on defaulted student loan accounts and a new Republican-fronted bill seeking to change existing income-driven repayment plan options. But the biggest news for most borrowers has been the court ruling blocking the SAVE repayment plan for 8 million borrowers. However, since that news, very little has been shared about what's next for SAVE borrowers. Currently, your loan payments remain paused in a general forbearance and your balance isn't collecting interest. That also means you're not making progress toward a loan forgiveness program like PSLF during the payment pause. While you can choose to switch to an alternative repayment plan, most experts suggest sticking with SAVE, and doing this one thing ahead of payments resuming. Here's what you need to know about when payments will restart for SAVE borrowers, how to choose a different income-driven repayment plan and what experts say you should do during this downtime. Read more: How Much Could Student Loan Payments Skyrocket for SAVE Borrowers? We Did the Math When will payments restart for student loan borrowers in SAVE? It's not clear when payments will start again for borrowers on the SAVE plan but it's looking like the end of this year would be the earliest timeframe. The Department of Education's website says SAVE plan borrowers will stay in a general forbearance until at least the fall. It also directed loan servicers to adjust the income recertification deadline to no earlier than Feb. 1, 2026. Robert Farrington, student loan expert and founder of The College Investor, expects the general forbearance to last even longer. "Borrowers will likely see the SAVE forbearance end in mid-to-late 2026," says Farrington. "Many borrowers are already reporting the end date of their forbearance moving to September 2026." Should PSLF borrowers in SAVE switch to another repayment plan? If you're a teacher, nurse or other public servant pursuing PSLF, you may be worried that the payment pause is not counting toward your 120-payment requirement. That leaves you with three options. First, you could switch from SAVE to another income-driven repayment plan (ICR, IBR or PAYE). That way, your payments will count toward PSLF's 120-payment requirement. Alternatively, if you would have hit 120 months of on-time payments if not for the pause, you can apply for the PSLF Buyback program to get credit for your time in forbearance. "This program [allows borrowers] to make a lump-sum payment for any months spent in administrative forbearance under SAVE, ensuring those months count towards PSLF," explains Megan Walter, NASFAA senior policy analyst. The downside of these first two options is that borrowers have been reporting processing delays. So don't expect a fast response. Last, if you've recently enrolled in PSLF or are not close to receiving forgiveness, you might prefer to wait until you're moved into a new payment plan. Yes, your months in forbearance won't count toward your 120-payment goal, but this could give you time to start saving for a potentially higher student loan payment. Whether you decide to change plans now or wait, make sure your decisions align with your financial goals. With SAVE no longer an option, it's important to understand all your avenues for paying back your student loans. What should SAVE borrowers do now? That doesn't mean you should sit back and do nothing, though. Take this time to prepare for the likelihood that your payments will increase in the future. You can use the Federal Student Aid's Loan Simulator tool to help calculate how much your monthly payment will be under different payment plans. While your payments are paused, you won't have to worry about your account being moved to collections. Although borrowers with defaulted loans are once again subject to collections, including wage garnishment, those enrolled in the SAVE plan don't have to worry about those consequences for now. Use this time to improve your finances, suggested Farrington. "This is a great time to pay off other debts (including private loans), build an emergency fund, contribute to an IRA and more." If you have the wiggle room in your budget, start paying yourself each month the same amount you'd pay your student loan servicer. Put this money into a high-yield savings account to earn a little extra interest on your savings.

How work requirements for Medicaid could affect Virginians
How work requirements for Medicaid could affect Virginians

Axios

timean hour ago

  • Axios

How work requirements for Medicaid could affect Virginians

The U.S. Senate is considering a massive budget bill, passed by House Republicans, that seeks to save money by adding work requirements to Medicaid. The big picture: When Virginia tried adding similar work requirements years ago, the Department of Medical Assistance Services, which oversees the state's Medicaid program, said about 50,000 people would lose coverage. But that number would likely to be higher now since more Virginians are enrolled than in 2018. Rough estimates from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, for example, show nearly 200,000 Virginians losing coverage, including those who work or qualify for an exemption. Updated numbers won't be available until "the end of 2025 at the earliest," since they depend on federal guidance, DMAS spokesperson Kedra Keith tells Axios. State of play: The proposed bill requires states to deny or end coverage to anyone aged 19 to 64 who isn't working at least 80 hours per month, with some exemptions, starting Dec. 31, 2026. The accelerated timeline could pose administrative challenges to the states, which would be tasked with setting up expensive employment verification systems within a year and a half. Flashback: When Attorney General Jason Miyares introduced a nearly identical bill in 2018 as a state delegate, DMAS told lawmakers it could take two years to get the work requirements up and running. DMAS estimated that adding staff, changing systems, and gathering data to meet those requirements would cost more than $23 million. It would also lead to an estimated two-year loss of revenue that would offset the "savings of reduced coverage." Between the lines: These work requirements never went into effect because former Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam stopped them from moving forward in 2019, frustrating state Republicans. Friction point: The White House and some Republicans say they're rooting out fraud and avoiding subsidizing adults who "choose" not to work. But critics like Freddy Mejia, policy director for progressive policy group The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, tell Axios the changes could lead to accidental coverage loss. "Historically, qualifying individuals have been kicked off coverage simply due to technology literacy and language barriers that make it difficult to keep up with paperwork requirements," said Mejia. By the numbers: There's little evidence that people are mooching off Medicaid, reports Axios' Emily Peck. Nationwide, 96% of adults with Medicaid work full or part time, take care of family, are disabled, attend school, or are retired, per an analysis of census data by the CBPP. 2% could not find work and another 2% are in an "other" category. What we're watching: If the bill passes Congress, states could lose funding if they don't adopt the requirement — and Virginia has a trigger law automatically ending expanded Medicaid coverage if federal funding drops below 90%.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store