Elizabeth Warren On Student Loans: ‘The Government Should Not Be Making Profits Off Of Kids Who Are Trying To Get An Education’

Elizabeth Warren is one of the few alternatives to a 2016 Democratic nomination for Hillary Clinton that has really gained momentum. Part of that is due to the fervor with which Elizabeth’s supporters want her to run for the office next year. Despite several statements that she would not be pursuing the nomination, many grassroots organizers have made clear that they want to see Warren on the ticket.

But many of the reasons that these groups have become so passionate about seeing Elizabeth in office are also the exact reasons that it would be so difficult for her to win the presidency when it comes to securing the increasingly important independent vote. Although Warren has gained a lot of traction, it’s largely because she is so unapologetically progressive.

That reputation was something Elizabeth once again confirmed with statements that she made on Conan O’Brien Tuesday night, where she discussed many of the issues that a presidential nominee would undoubtedly face in 2016.

Of course, Warren’s campaign for stricter regulation on Wall Street and higher taxes on the rich came into play, particularly when she discussed the need for reform to the U.S. higher education system. Elizabeth explained that this is tricky as the government has technically already budgeted future profits they will make from student debt, but she proposes that these funds can come from eliminating tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.

“The interest on student loans is set so that after you account for the bad debt losses, the administrative costs, the cost of the funds… It’s set to produce tens for billions of dollars in profit for the U.S. government. Just from 2007 to 2012, it’s on target to produce 66 billion in profit. The government should not be making profits off of kids trying to get an education.”

Another one of those topics was Warren’s push to raise the minimum wage, which she illustrated with a personal story about her mother working to support her family as a low-skilled worker in the 1960s.

“When I was 12 my daddy had a heart attack… My mother was 50 years old, never worked outside the home. We had a long period with no money coming in, lost the family station wagon, bills piling up, we’re about that far from losing our home. I remember the day that I walk into my mom’s bedroom…she’s crying [and says], ‘I am not losing this house.’… She walks to the Sears and gets a minimum wage job… That minimum wage job saved our home, it saved our family, but it was a time in America when a minimum wage job would keep a family afloat.”

Could you see Elizabeth Warren running in 2016 with some of her Conan O’Brien talking points?

[Image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images]