Elizabeth Warren in Sunday Political Talk Show interviews during 2013-2015

On Education: Allow refinancing student loans; it's a crushing $1.2T

SEN. WARREN: No. So let's start by just reminding everybody what this is. Our young people are being crushed by student loan debt, $1.2 trillion in outstanding student loan debt, and it is exploding. In less than a decade, student loan debt has gone up 71% for the average amount that young people are borrowing. This is a crisis that now is not just affecting families that get hurt by it, it's affecting the whole economy.

On Government Reform: It's THEIR money & power against OUR voices & votes

SEN. WARREN. Yeah.

Q: So what is your solution?

WARREN: Washington works for anyone who can hire an army of lobbyists and lawyers. It just doesn't work for regular families. They've got the concentration of money and power that makes sure that every rule works for those who are rich. What we have on the other side, is we've only got two things. We've got our voices and we've got our votes. And we've got to make sure we get heard. That's the only way we ever get a level playing field.

Q: Is your fight with President Obama or is it with the Republicans?

WARREN: I have had very strong and frankly, pretty public, disagreements with both the Bush administration and with the current administration particularly during the financial bailout over the treatment of the biggest banks. My view was there was too much--and still is--too much of tilting the playing field in their favor.

On Welfare & Poverty: Nobody should work full-time and still live in poverty

SEN. WARREN: Take a look at the House if you want to see what happens when Republicans take over. What are they on now, is this their fiftieth vote to repeal Obamacare? That's not how you run a country. We have real issues we need to deal with. Minimum wage, student loan debt, equal pay for equal work, a little accountability for the big financial institutions.

Q: Your fans say you're a populist, but your critics say you're just basically a socialist.

WARREN: I just don't know where they get that. You know, look at the issues. Minimum wage? I just believe nobody should work full time and live in poverty. And you know what? Most of America agrees. Student loans, I don't think the U.S. government should be making tens of billions of dollars in profits off the backs of our students, which is what the current student loan system is doing. And I think most Americans agree with me on that.

On Corporations: In 1980s, cops were taken off the beat in financial services

WARREN: I've made it clear--I've been working on for the last 25 years--that I'm worried a lot about power in the financial services industry. And I'm worried about the fact that basically starting in the '80s, you know, the cops were taken off the beat in financial services, these guys were allowed to just paint a bull's eye on the backsides of American families. They loaded up on risk. They crashed the economy. They got bailed out. And what bothers me now is they still strut around Washington. They block regulations that they don't want. They roll over agencies whenever they can.

Q: Did they roll over Hillary Clinton?

WARREN: Well, they break the law, and still don't end up being held accountable for it, and going to jail.

On Principles & Values: Registered Independent & Republican in Pennsylvania in 1990s

WARREN: I think it's four [years]..

Q: What drew you to the GOP and why did you leave?.

WARREN: I was originally an independent. I was with the GOP for a while because I really thought that it was a party that was principled in its conservative approach to economics and to markets. And I feel like the GOP party just left that. That they moved to a party that said, no, it's not about a level playing field, it's now about a field that has gotten tilted. And they really stood up for the big financial institutions when the big financial institutions are just hammering middle class American families. You know, I just feel like that's a party that moved way, way away.