Fifty-three percent (53%) of Americans say it is Very Likely that the Big Three automakers will be back for more government money next year even if Congress revives the $14-billion taxpayer-backed loan package defeated last night in the Senate.

Another 32% of voters say it is Somewhat Likely that the auto companies will return for more money, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey taken before the Senate vote.
Only one percent (1%) say that is not at all likely to happen.

Investors are even more positive that the auto companies will be back for additional help. Fifty-nine percent (59%) of investors say it is Very Likely, compared to 49% of non-investors.

Sixty percent (60%) of men and 47% of women agree, as do nearly identical numbers of Republicans, Democrats and unaffiliated voters.

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The loan bailout plan – championed by President Bush, President-elect Obama and the Democratic congressional leadership - was defeated in the Senate on a procedural vote after the United Auto Workers union refused to consider any cuts in wages and benefits before 2011. Senate Republicans were adamant that the unions by the end of next year drop their wages and benefits to the level of those in non-unionized plants operated by Japanese automakers in this country.

The auto union for years has been one of the Democratic Party’s strongest supporters. Chances for passage of a bigger, long-term federal bailout plan will improve dramatically in late January after Obama becomes president and the Democrats grow their majorities in both the Senate and the House.

Although supporters of the loan package were quick to criticize the GOP opponents, 53% of voters are against taxpayer-funded loans to help keep General Motors, Ford and Chrysler in business. Only 28% support them.

Fifty-four percent (54%) of investors are against taxpayer-backed loans for the Big Three, along with 55% of Republicans and a plurality of Democrats (49%). Even more voters independent of either political party (58%) oppose the loans.

Only 10 Senate Republicans last night supported moving the process forward on the loan plan, already approved by the House. In the Senate, it died on a procedural vote of 52-35, needing 60 votes to go forward. Twelve legislators didn't vote, including Vice President-elect Joseph Biden, who is still the senior senator from Delaware.

Both GM and the privately-owned Chrysler Corp. say they are close to bankruptcy. Ford says its cash flow is fine through 2009 and is not seeking loan help from the federal government at this time.

Thirty-nine percent (39%) of voters say it is Very Likely that one of the major automakers will go out of business within the next year or two. Another 31% say that is Somewhat Likely, with just three percent (3%) saying it is not at all likely to occur.

Forty-five percent (45%) of investors believe one of the automakers will go out of business in that period, compared to 34% of non-investors.

The Rasmussen Investor Index, which measures investor confidence on a daily basis, was up slightly on Friday but is just seven points above the all-time low established earlier this week.

In a finding that spells perhaps even more trouble for U.S. automakers, 51% of voters say they wouldn’t buy a car from a manufacturer that is in bankruptcy. Just 31% say they would.

Both the loan package and a proposed long-term rescue plan call for unprecedented federal government involvement in the business operations of the Big Three, raising the specter of nationalizing the U.S. auto industry. Only 14% of U.S. voters, however, think the automakers will run better if they are run by the federal government. Two-thirds of voters (67%) say the companies will not run better.

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