Warren cornered by a frustrated dad who saved for daughter's college tuition: "We get screwed?"

Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of the frontrunners for the Democratic nomination for the 2020 Presidential elections, has been a strong proponent of forgiving student loan debts. Ever since she announced her campaign for Presidency, the issue of student loans has been one of the most important pillars of her platform. Recently, she shared her plan for ensuring she keeps her promise of forgiving those still struggling with their student loans. However, not everyone is happy with the plan. One of the main issues people have is that it would be unfair. After all, if we did the "right thing" by saving up for our children's education, how could it possibly be fair that others who didn't get off scot-free? A frustrated father who allegedly started saving for his daughter's education ever since she was 10 years old shared his concerns with the Senator, Newsweek reports.

The incident took place at a Presidential campaign event in Iowa earlier this week. Senator Warren was fielding some questions at a meet and greet during the event when the father, who remains unnamed, was recorded having a conversation with her about student loans. He identified himself as a parent who had begun saving for his daughter's education when she was very young. He then went on to explain how her student loan forgiveness plan was unfair to him as a hardworking parent. The exchange was posted on Tuesday to a pro-Trump Twitter account and it has since gone viral.

"My daughter's getting out of school, I saved all my money, she doesn't have any student loans," the father explained to Warren in the video. "Am I going to get my money back?" To this, the Senator responded, "Of course not." The father thus became visibly frustrated and stated, "So, you're going to pay for people who didn't save any money and those of us that did the right thing get screwed." Warren attempted to refute the assertion that he and others like him would be "screwed," but to no avail. He compared his expenses to that of his friend's. "Of course we [would get screwed]," he protested. "My buddy had fun, bought a car, went on vacation..." At this point, while Warren did not laugh, she did crack a smile. This obviously upset the father further. He continued, "I saved my money. He made more than I did, but I worked a double shift since my daughter was 10. You're laughing... Yeah, that's exactly what you're doing. We did the right thing and we got screwed." The man, clearly done with the heated conversation, finally walked away. The Senator claimed she "appreciated" the interaction.

This man's interaction portrays a crucial problem of student loan forgiveness. Those who lived a life of intense saving are bound to feel somehow cheated by the system. Had they engaged in "frivolous" spending as many of their peers did, they could benefit from Warren's student loan forgiveness program, essentially freeriding off the government's budget but still enjoying their purchases. While an argument could be made about allowing other people the privilege of living without the burden of debt, there is perhaps no real answer to the retrospective loss that someone would feel they have to bear. This loss, however, doesn't invalidate the concept of loan forgiveness. Why should everyone suffer just because a broken system forced certain people to?

Warren's student loan forgiveness plan would cancel student loan debt up to $50,000 for almost 42 million borrowers. If elected President, she has vowed to pass her program even without the approval of Congress. Here's how she targets those who would truly benefit from such a plan, rather than frivolous big spenders. The Senator's program differs on the basis of income; the highest earners would not be legible for the plan. The plan also undoes the harm caused by predatory lenders on unsuspecting students with little to no to asymmetric access to information. Nonetheless, how Warren takes - or loses - control of this narrative will predict her electability in the coming months. More importantly, she will have to tough it out against fellow Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, who has a similar plan to forgive student debt. Let the games begin.