WASHINGTON -- Most Americans don't believe the government has responsibility for bailing out financial firms with taxpayer money, a core part of the rescue plan Congress is considering to halt the near-meltdown of the nation's financial markets, a Times/Bloomberg poll has found.
Reluctance to use public money to rescue private firms runs across all parts of the population, the poll found: Democrats and Republicans, high-income and low-income families alike.
When asked whether the government should use taxpayer dollars to rescue ailing financial firms whose collapse could have adverse effects on the economy, 55% of the poll's respondents said they did not believe the government should be responsible for funding a bailout plan.However, when some of those who opposed a bailout were interviewed, several said they would reluctantly accept a bailout plan if Congress decided one was necessary.
"It sticks in my craw," said Camille Woyak, 82, a retired office worker in Appleton, Wis., who said she opposed a bailout. "There should be some other solution. But I think the taxpayers are going to have to cover it. I don't know any other way out."
"I lived through the Depression as a little girl," she added. "I don't want to go through that again."
Even voters who said they supported a government-funded bailout often said they weren't happy about the idea.
"Normally, I'd like to keep government out of the economy as much as we can," said Morris Vermeulen, 73, a retired housing inspector in Rogers, Ark. "But somebody's got to do something. We can't have a complete financial collapse."
Still, Vermeulen added, he hoped Congress finds a way to penalize the Wall Street financial houses for forcing taxpayers to come to their aid. "We should draw a little blood from them," he said cheerfully.
That mix of sentiments is one factor that has caused some Democrats and Republicans in Congress to balk at the Bush administration's bailout plan. Democrats have demanded new aid for distressed homeowners and limits on the pay of top executives whose firms get help. Some conservative Republicans have said the plan is an unwarranted use of taxpayer money to intervene in the private markets.
Other polls have found that voters want the government to do something to prevent a financial collapse, even though they don't like the idea of footing the bill. A Pew Research Center Poll released Tuesday, for example, found that 57% of respondents think the government is doing the right thing by intervening to stabilize the economy.
