Americans have come a long way from the days when what was good for General Motors was seen as good for the country.

Seventy-six percent (76%) of U.S. voters now believe it is possible for the U.S. economy to recover even if General Motors goes out of business.
Just nine percent (9%) say that isn’t true in a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Fifteen percent (15%) aren’t sure.

Seventy-seven percent (77%) of investors and 74% of non-investors agree that the economy can bounce back even if GM doesn’t.

Just 23% of voters are in favor of providing additional taxpayer-backed loans for GM and Chrysler. Sixty-two percent (62%) are opposed. President Obama has given GM 60 days to rework its plan for staying in business before his auto task force determines whether it qualifies for additional government loans. Public opposition to the loans has been consistent for weeks.

Even when presented with the choice between additional support and letting the companies go out of business, 44% say it is better for the economy to let companies like GM fail.

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Fifty-nine percent (59%) of all voters now say it is at least somewhat likely that GM or Chrysler will go out of business over the next few years.

Nineteen percent (19%) say that’s Very Likely to happen, up four points from six weeks ago. Just three percent (3%) think it’s not at all likely.

While 80% still view the U.S. automobile industry as at least somewhat important to the financial stability of the overall economy, just 32% say it’s Very Important. These numbers are little changed from early February. However, two years ago, nearly half of Americans (49%) rated the auto industry Very Important to the overall economy.

There is very little partisan disagreement on the economy’s chances for recovery minus GM. Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Republicans, 72% of Democrats and 80% of voters not affiliated with either party say the economy can recover even if GM fails. However, Democrats are slightly less confident that either GM or Chrysler will survive.

Seventy-three percent (73%) of Republicans, 53% of Democrats, and and 64% of unaffiliated voters oppose any more government loans for the failing automakers.

Fewer than one-third of American adults (32%) have a favorable opinion of GM. That’s a drop of 37 points in the past two years.

The only good news for the embattled automakers is that there is slightly more support for auto bailouts than there is for subsidizing newspaper.

Investor confidence as measured by the Rasmussen Investor Index hit a six-month high on Tuesday but still remains well below the findings of a year ago.

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