Bailout: Still Not Popular

After two months of relentless scaremongering by the nation's elite politicians and journalists, how's that whole bailout thing doing at the polls?

Washington Post, Dec. 16:

55 percent of those polled oppose the latest plan that Chrysler, Ford and General Motors executives pitched to Congress last week, on par with public opposition to earlier, pricier efforts. […]

[T]hose who strongly oppose the measure greatly outnumber those who are strongly supportive.

Associated Press, Dec. 12:

Just 39 percent said it would be right to spend billions in loans to keep GM, Ford and Chrysler in business, according to a poll by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. Just 45 percent of Democrats and 31 percent of Republicans supported the idea.

In a separate Marist College poll, 48 percent said they oppose federal loans for the struggling automakers while 41 percent approved.

Like Dick Cheney, I don't believe in governing by poll. But that won't prevent me from taking heart in the fact that, once again, Americans seem to have more instinctive faith in capitalism and less enthusiasm for government blank checks than their elected representatives.