(Angus Reid Globall Monitor) - Half of adults in the United States question whether their government should step in and rescue the financial markets, according to a poll by Rasmussen Reports. 50 per cent of respondents think the companies that made mistakes should go bankrupt, while 30 per cent favour government intervention.

George W. Bush—a Republican—earned a second four-year term in the November 2004 presidential election. The next presidential election will take place on Nov. 4.

Since last year, defaults on so-called subprime mortgages—credit given to high-risk borrowers—have caused volatility in domestic and financial markets and raised concerns that the U.S. economy could fall into a recession.

Earlier this year, the U.S. government took control of mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Other financial institutions—including Bear Stearns, Merril Lynch, Lehman Brothers, American International Group (AIG), IndyMac Bancorp and Washington Mutual—have been sold, placed under bankruptcy protection, or received emergency loans from the Federal Reserve. On Sept. 15, the stock market plummeted in North America, Europe and Asia.

On Sept. 25, Bush called for the federal government to "put up to $700 billion taxpayer dollars on the line to purchase troubled assets that are clogging the financial system."

Yesterday, Republican House minority leader John Boehner expressed dismay at the proposal, saying, "We will not agree to a bill that sells taxpayers out to bail out Wall Street."

Polling Data

When you think about the problems on Wall Street, is it better for the government to step in and rescue the financial markets or is it be better to let the companies that made mistakes go bankrupt?

Source: Rasmussen Reports
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 American likely voters, conducted on Sept. 24, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

Archive Search

Over 19,500 Polls
Search the Angus Reid Global Monitor Polls & Research archive.