Americans Not Sure on Financial Reform Bill, But Don’t Think Some Banks are Too Big to Fail

Rasmussen Reports
Jul. 02, 2010

Nothing could be better for the economy than letting the big corporate welfare pimp banks fail. People give their money to companies whose products they want more of, that helps both them get the products they want and the company produce more products they want for cheaper.

The idea stealing money from productive and free people to give to some corrupt bank or some military industrial complex corporation helps "stimulate" the economy is a sick joke.

The biggest economic stimulation is to get rid of the middleman between you and the companies you like. Get the parasitic government to stop robbing them of half their income through taxes, you'd see prices across the board fall dramatically. - ChrisAmericans don't have strong feelings one way or the other about a financial reform bill working its way through Congress. But most reject the notion that some banks are too big to fail and prefer more competition over more regulation.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that a plurality (44%) of Adults nationwide don't have an opinion one way or the other on the financial reform effort. The rest are fairly evenly divided between those who favor (25%) and oppose the effort.

As the Fourth of July holiday approaches, just 25% of Americans are Very Closely following news stories about "a new bill working this way through Congress that would impose tighter regulatory control over the U.S. financial system." Another 34% are following the news Somewhat Closely.

But while Americans are not up to speed on the details of what Congress is trying to do, most reject the notion that some banks are too big to fail. If "some of the largest banks in the country reach a point where they can no longer meet their obligations," 56% say the government should let them go out of business. Just 24% believe the government should find a way to keep the failing bank in business.

Additionally, 49% say it would be better for the United States financial system to have more competition and less regulation. Just 30% take the opposite view and prefer more regulation and less competition.

Most Republicans (66%) prefer more competition and less regulation while a plurality of Democrats take the opposite view. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 53% prefer more competition while 24% favor more regulation.

The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on June 26-27, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Americans are evenly divided over the "creation of a new government agency to regulate what banks, mortgage lenders and credit card companies offer Americans." Thirty-eight percent (38%) like the idea and 40% do not.

On the topic of financial reform, there is a huge divide between the Political Class and Mainstream Americans.

By a 66% to 8% margin, the Political Class favors the legislation before Congress. By a 42% to 16% margin, Mainstream Americans are opposed.

By a 75% to 12% margin, those in the Mainstream reject the "too big to fail" concept and believe failing banks should go out of business. By a 48% to 18% margin, those in the Political Class believe the government should find a way to keep those banks in business.

By a 3-to-1 margin, Mainstream Americans believe the financial system would be better off with more competition and less regulation. By an 8-to-1 margin, the Political Class thinks it would be better to have more regulation and less competition.












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