Fifty-five percent (55%) of Americans oppose taxpayer-funded loans to help the Big Three automakers stay in business, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Just 26% support loans to General Motors, Chrysler and Ford, while 18% are undecided.

Investors, with an eye to the wildly fluctuating markets, are even more strongly opposed. Sixty-four percent (64%) are against taxpayer-funded loans to the Big Three, compared to 45% of non-investors.

In mid-November, 46% of Americans opposed a taxpayer-backed bailout of the Big Three automakers.

One-third of voters (34%) put most of the blame for the companies’ business problems on the automakers themselves, while 25% blame auto workers’ unions.

Only 21% see the overall economic situation as the culprit. Just eight percent (8%) blame foreign competition. For six percent (6%), some other unspecified reason is the primary cause, and five percent (5%) aren’t sure.

Forty-one percent (41%) of Democrats blame the automakers, while 43% of Republicans blame the unions. Investors are fairly evenly divided between blaming the automakers and the unions, while non-investors by nearly two-to-one say the companies are to blame.

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The top executives of the Big Three automakers made their pitch for federal government help to Congress last week but went home empty-handed. They are expected back in Washington on December 2 with detailed business plans on how they would spend the $25 billion loan they are requesting to meet their immediate cash flow needs. Congress’ Democratic leadership favors the auto bailout but may have to put it off until a new president is in office in January since President Bush and congressional Republicans are opposed.

Also at issue are the possible hurried-up release of $25 billion in loans already approved by Congress to help the auto companies retool to produce more energy-efficient vehicles and allowing that money to be used for other purposes.

In a survey late last week, 48% of voters told Rasmussen Reports it is better for the economy to let companies like General Motors fail rather than providing government subsidies to keep them in business.

Republicans oppose bailout loans substantially more than both Democrats and unaffiliated voters. In the latest survey, 69% of GOP voters are against the loans, compared to 48% of both Democrats and unaffiliateds. Thirty-four percent (34%) of Democratic voters are in favor of such a bailout, as are 28% of unaffiliated voters. Just 16% of Republicans agree.

The highest levels of opposition are among those earning $40,000 per year and more.

African-Americans are roughly twice as supportive of the loans as whites.

Voters overall, however, are finding the auto industry less essential to the U.S. economy than they used to .

On Tuesday, the Rasmussen Investor Index, which measures investor confidence on a daily basis, fell to another record low. The Investor Index has now been below 70.0 for 13 of the last 15 days. Prior to this stretch, investor confidence had fallen below that level just four times in seven years.

The Rasmussen Consumer Index, which measures the economic confidence of consumers on a daily basis, is now less than a point above its all-time low.

These findings help explain why nearly half of Americans (47%) say they are more likely to buy the car that provides the best value rather than a U.S.-made car or one manufactured overseas. Thirty-one percent (31%) are more likely to buy an American-made car, and 18% say they would opt for a foreign brand car.

A car that provides the best value is the more likely purchase for 50% of Democrats, 49% of unaffiliated voters and 42% of Republicans. One-third of Democrats and GOP voters are more likely to buy American, but only 25% of unaffiliated voters say they would do the same.

Again, African-Americans are nearly twice more likely than whites to buy a U.S.-made car rather than choose the best value.

By far, the highest level of support for buying a foreign-made car (33%) is among those earning $75,000 to $100,000 per year. Forty-five percent (45%) of those earning $20,000 or less annually say they are more likely to buy American.

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