75% Oppose Nationalization of U.S. Banks

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

All sorts of big government solutions are being proposed to combat the country’s economic troubles, but Americans are clear on one thing: 75% say the federal government should not take over the U.S. banking system.

Only nine percent (9%) think nationalization of America’s banks is a good idea, and 16% are undecided in a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Investors are even more emphatic. Seventy-eight percent (78%) oppose government control of the banks, compared to 71% of non-investors.

With bank closings running at record levels and two of the country’s major banks, Bank of America and Citicorp, struggling, some prominent liberal economists are arguing for government takeovers until the financial institutions are straightened out. The president of Bank of America in a television interview last week rejected as “absurd” rumors that his bank was facing nationalization.


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Fourteen percent (14%) of Democrats support a government takeover of U.S. banks, but only six percent (6%) of Republicans agree. Eighty-eight percent (88%) of Republicans and 62% of Democrats are opposed.

Among those not affiliated with either of the major political parties, six percent (6%) favor a government takeover, and 78% disagree.

African-Americans are more than twice as likely as whites to support nationalization of the banks. But 78% of whites and 52% of blacks oppose such a move.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner today is expected to announce a second bailout plan for the banking industry intended in part to entice private investors to invest in bad mortgage-related debts to help unfreeze U.S. credit markets. The government will guarantee a minimal level of risk to the investors to encourage their involvement.

The financing for this plan is expected to come from the $350 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds remaining from the $700-billion bank bailout bill approved by Congress in early October.

Last July, 68% of Americans were confident about the stability of the U.S. banking system, LINK to http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/general_business/most_americans_confident_about_u_s_banking_system but the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in mid-September and the rising number of bank failures has prompted government action. Congress then approved the first bank bailout bill proposed by the Bush White House despite substantial opposition.
Federal regulators have closed nine troubled banks so far this year. They closed 25 in 2008, matching the combined total for the previous seven years.

Just before Election Day, voters were evenly divided over whether the government’s increased involvement in private banks and the economy was good for them.

By mid-January, Rasmussen Reports polling showed that although many voters were initially opposed to federal bailouts and greater government intervention in the economy, they had since warmed to the idea.


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