As Congress prepares to vote on a proposed economic rescue plan, opposition to the measure has declined significantly. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey conducted Sunday found that 33% of Likely Voters now favor the plan while 32% are opposed and 35% are not sure.

For proponents of the legislation, that’s a significant improvement. On Friday, just 24% of voters had supported the plan while 50% were opposed. Supporters of the legislation argue the plan to buy up bad mortgage debt from private firms is the surest way to free up credit for all Americans.

While voters are unsure about the particular plan agreed to by Congress and the Administration, 49% say it’s Very Important that some kind of plan be implemented. Another 29% say it’s Somewhat Important to do so.

Just 49% understand that the government anticipates recovering a significant portion of the $700 billion when the assets purchased are resold. Twenty-six percent (26%) say that’s not part of the plan while the rest are not sure (full demographic crosstabs are available for Premium Members).

Those who understand that taxpayers will eventually get much of the money back support the bailout by a 2-to-1 margin. Those who incorrectly believe the government will not be getting money back oppose the bailout by a 62% to 18% margin.

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Consumer and investor confidence has fallen dramatically over the past two weeks as the scope of the Wall Street debacle became visible. During that same time frame, Barack Obama has opened a modest lead over John McCain in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

Narrow pluralities of both Obama supporters and McCain supporters favor the legislation and the reaction from liberals and conservatives are similarly mixed. Thirty-six percent (36%) of Investors support the plan while 31% are opposed.

Fifty-nine percent (59%) continue to worry that the federal government will intervene too much while just 27% say they will do too little. Earlier this month, 51% said the federal government has too much control over the economy already.

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