Dave was very helpful to me 25-30 years ago, when I was 40K in student loan debt and trying to get out from under that. He provided a lot of motivation and good advice. I combined his teaching/motivation with lessons from the voluntary simplicity movement to turn my life around (financially but in other ways, too).
I think we're being somewhat unfair to him in the thread. He has in fact helped a lot of people to get out of debt, which is no small thing. He has mades a huge difference for tens of thousands of people, at least. I get the feeling some people here are smirking at him from above, from high financial perches, but please remember you are a tiny minority. Tons of people struggle with basic financial issues in a way you cannot relate to. Doesn't mean they don't benefit from help.
I don't listen to him any more. He gives ridiculous stock and retirement advice. But for getting and staying out of debt, he's a great guy to listen to. (Or was, anyway. I assume after 25 years of dealing with the same issues over and over, he's probably not as enthusiastic as he used to be.)