For congressional candidate Richard Lieberman, the state of higher education in the United States is a personal and pressing issue.
Lieberman, who is running to represent Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, paid his way through the University of New Orleans and Tulane University on student loans, while also working as a waiter to make ends meet.
Lieberman, whose daughter attends a university in Florida, is still confronting problems in higher education today. He said he is especially concerned with the rising prices of textbooks, as well as the policies of companies like Barnes and Noble that take over book sales on campus.
“My daughter bought a biology book for $300, and when she goes to return it, she won’t get much,” Lieberman said. “They’re going to pay you $10 for that book, and they’re going to turn around and sell it and make more money.”
Lieberman also said the current system of federal student loans in America is broken, and he advocated for lowering the interest rates on student loans to those the government imposes on major banks.
“Why is the government trying to make money off of students, when the banks are hardly paying anything?” Lieberman asked. “It’s really not fair.”
Lieberman said he is also concerned that the difficulties involved in obtaining a student loan are resulting in a “dumbing down of the United States.”
“The only people who can get loans, if they don’t have three or four jobs while they’re in school are people whose parents can afford it,” Lieberman said. “So that drags down the country.”
Lieberman said his experiences working his way through college left him jaded and cynical about the world, yet endowed him with a sense of appreciation and responsibility.
Though Lieberman is running as a Democrat, he was a member of the Republican Party from 1982 to 2012, and even made phone calls for the Romney campaign in the latest presidential election.
Lieberman described himself as “middle-of-the-road,” and said he will not go “overboard” with “fanatical ideology” from either party.
“You’ve got one extreme, and then the other extreme,” Lieberman said. “I’m probably a Republicrat.”
Lieberman said he partly credits his switch between parties to the many lobbyists who have “taken over” the Republican Party.
“They don’t relate anymore to regular people,” Lieberman said of the party. “They’re just there to worry about the lobbyists.
Before Lieberman became the owner of his own RE/MAX real estate franchise in LaPlace, he worked for a law firm in New Orleans defending a major tobacco company until 1998.
While at the firm, Lieberman conducted research to prove the general public was largely aware of the fact that smoking caused health problems.
“If you’re going to get cancer, it’s going to depend on your physiological makeup,” Lieberman said. “The cigarettes do not actually cause you to get cancer.”
Lieberman acknowledged that venturing into the real estate business was a way for him to get away from the law firm.
“It got to a point where you start realizing that you’re working for these, basically, evil people,” Lieberman said.
Elections for the 6th Congressional District will be held Nov. 4.
“Why is the government trying to make money off of students, when the banks are hardly paying anything? It’s really not fair.”

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Richard Lieberman