CapitolFax.com - Latest Comments in Who is this guy?

Re: Who is this guy?

Rich Miller — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 08:20:14 -0000

Obama chaired the Health & Human Services Committee. All the bills went thru him. I can't see how anyone can possibly make a statement like the professor's and remain credible. That was his thing.

Re: Who is this guy?

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 01:31:31 -0000

Isn't IGPA where a former governor works? Given his role in elections since leaving Springfield, wouldn't there still be some inside connections in IGPA? Was that former governor personally aware of Obama's past voting record?

Re: Who is this guy?

Hugh — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 01:23:11 -0000

Shelby Foote, who is this guy? He DIDN'T EVEN SERVE in the Civil War! What does he know?

Re: Who is this guy?

AnotherAnon — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 01:20:36 -0000

Certainly having been first hand witness to anything, including the activities surrounding Obama's claims related to health care legislation while he served time in the GA, is an excellent means by which one can recite what happened. However, how many scholars are there in the world that can accurately describe events that took place outside of their presence, even outside their time line? Knowing facts on the ground, presumably by having been there, is certainly important. But if the only people that are qualified to speak to an event are those that were actually in attendance, then that means many people (likely including most posters on this blog as well as most members of the media) aren't so qualified. This may not mean that, in this case, Prof. Rich knows of what he speaks. But many in this posting seem to agree with him, if not directly disagree.

Re: Who is this guy?

Rich Miller — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 23:20:09 -0000

Health care theory is one thing. Knowing facts on the ground is quite another.

Re: Who is this guy?

Rayne of Terror — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 22:13:15 -0000

I took Professor Rich's Health Care Law class at U of I last fall. He is an expert - more on the federal level than the state level, but an expert nonetheless.

Re: Who is this guy?

The 'Broken Heart' of Rogers P — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:52:22 -0000

Hugh, you're cracking me up.

Re: Who is this guy?

Hugh — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:48:56 -0000

rich has a crush

Re: Who is this guy?

Rich Miller — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:21:30 -0000

===oh, so now youâ€™re some kind of expert on cluelessness?===

I ccover the GA. lol. Also, I've been reading your comments. That alone... oh, nevermind. :)

Re: Who is this guy?

Rich Miller — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:20:32 -0000

"Rich is an Illinoisan. Heâ€™s qualified to comment."

Not as an expert.

Re: Who is this guy?

Hugh — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:19:32 -0000

"In the meantime, hereâ€™s some unsolicited advice: If youâ€™re clueless, donâ€™t act like youâ€™re an expert."

oh, so now you're some kind of expert on cluelessness?

Re: Who is this guy?

Hugh — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:18:18 -0000

Rich is an Illinoisan. He's qualified to comment. God help you if you try to take the professor or director title to mean anything.

Re: Who is this guy?

Hugh — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:16:45 -0000

"Robert Rich ... appears not to have been involved in the push to expand health care."

did he claim he was?

Re: Who is this guy?

Hugh — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:15:58 -0000

"Paul Green is an exception because when he was regularly pontificating on state issues he kept in regular contact with many of us, including myself."

after all, how often you talk to Rich Miller is the number one criteria of competence to speak on Illinois issues

Re: Who is this guy?

Frank Booth — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 18:43:36 -0000

And how many people have health care as a result of the Health Care Justice Act?
I'm pretty sure the answer is zero.

Re: Who is this guy?

anon — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 18:43:11 -0000

The scrutiny (screw-tiny?) that the professor's comment is getting should be given to every quote in a news article. Obama's assertion in his quote was apparently inaccurate, or disingenuous, and has been questioned. Every commenter on that assertion, hen also needs to be questioned as not only to their knowledge of the subject on which theu are commenting but their motives for the comment they make. If this kind of scrutinty had been given to the Governor's assertions from the moment his candidacy began and teh people who commenting on those assertions, he might be an also-ran. But this is not the press's strong point and never has been. This blog and others can serve as journalism reviews, but are not mass media influence-peddlers (yet).

Re: Who is this guy?

Anonymous — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 18:40:39 -0000

I really can't believe this conversation has gone on so long. Obama sponsored and negotiated, renegotiated and renegotiated and then got passed the Health Care Justice Act. To suggest he wasn't in the thick of it is just foolish. He was absolutely central. Anybody who says otherwise, wasn't there. He was.

Re: Who is this guy?

Morning's Minion — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 17:07:21 -0000

A lot of staffers appear to do their research on google. I'd take a bill from Prof. Rich any day and Sunday, no matter how out of the "loop" he is.

His comment about Obama and healthcare, however, is out of line if he doesn't have any personal knowledge on the subject.

Re: Who is this guy?

Rich Miller — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:58:29 -0000

Re: Who is this guy?

Chicago Cynic — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:57:57 -0000

Only when Rich remembers to bill us...

Re: Who is this guy?

Vole — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:52:24 -0000

I have obviously ventured blindly into a domain of insider elites. So excuuuuuuzzze me! Do you insider dudes really pay to play here?

Re: Who is this guy?

Six Degrees of Separation — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:43:26 -0000

Vole,

Capitol Fax Blog is where the people's business is done, by insiders passing cryptic messages. Oops, maybe I've said too much.

Re: Who is this guy?

Vole — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:29:21 -0000

"Vole, most of my paying readers are insiders. Or close to it. lol"

No wonder the peoples' business isn't getting done.
They're screwing around here, inside the boxing way, all day.

Re: Who is this guy?

Yellow Dog Democrat — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:25:55 -0000

I don't think it disqualifies Prof. Rich from offering an opinion about Obama or his policies, I just don't think I'd quote him in an ad if I was doing Clinton's p.r. Or a news release.

Note that Jim Duffett seems to be supporting Obama for his work in the same article.

Attack Obama in an ad like that, and you're going to have a press conference led by Dr. Quentin Young and featuring a bunch of families who got health care coverage "Thanks to Barack Obama" on your hands.

More importantly, just like 1992, this election is not going to be about resumes or platforms. Ads attacking Obama's resume are a waste of money.

If Clinton has a hope of winning, its building herself up, not tearing Obama down. That approach is what got her third place in Iowa. Obama is rubber, she is glue.

Unfortunately for her, the one word that sums up Clinton's campaign message isn't "Experience", it's "Me". That seems to be what she thinks the campaign is all about, Her, and she relishes being in the center of a fight and the center of attention.

Re: Who is this guy?

A Citizen — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:18:28 -0000

- Yellow Dog Democrat -
"...record of accomplishments..." I know of no such record. He wrote a couple of books. Served uneventfully in Illinois and D.C. Accomplishments? Well he is a good motivational speaker. That's good, but not enough for POTUS!