Voters are evenly divided over whether Congress should take action to help the troubled financial industry or just let Wall Street work out its problems on its own, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Forty-five percent (45%) say Congress should take action, but 44% say Wall Street and the financial industry should take care of their own problems. Eleven percent (11%) are undecided (see crosstabs).

The survey was taken Monday night after Congress rejected a $700-billion taxpayer-backed economic rescue plan prompting the biggest drop in the stock market in 21 years.

Fewer than half (45%) believe the rejection of the economic plan will actually hurt the economy, while 33% think the media and members of Congress have portrayed the current economic situation as worse than it really is. Just over one-in-five voters (22%) remain undecided.

Highlighting the gap between Main Street and Wall Street, the Rasmussen Consumer Index shows consumer confidence gaining a point on Tuesday morning. Consumer confidence rose for the third straight day to 70.4--the highest level of the past week.

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Eighty-eight percent (88%) are following news stories about the rescue plan, negotiated by congressional leaders and the Bush administration, which is intended to buy up bad debt and free up credit.

The refusal of two-thirds of House Republicans to support the plan doomed it to failure on Monday, and, in the new survey, GOP voters not surprisingly are more critical of congressional action. Fifty-two percent (52%) of Republicans say Wall Street should work out its own problems versus 40% who want Congress to take action to help the financial industry.

By comparison, 51% of Democrats want congressional action, while 38% think Wall Street should be left to its own devices. Unaffiliated voters are evenly divided.

Interestingly, retirees, whose investments are being buffeted by the shifts in the stock market and generally have a more immediate need for that money, favor letting Wall Street and the financial sector work out its own problems by a 47% to 41% margin.

Forty-seven percent (47%) of Republicans also think the media and Congress have portrayed the economic situation as worse than it really is, while 35% think congressional rejection of the bailout plan will hurt the economy. For Democrats, 52% see Congress’ failure to pass the plan as bad for the economy, and only 21% think the situation has been made to appear worse than it truly is. A plurality of unaffiliated voters (47%) think Congress’ rejection of the plan is bad for the economy.

Perhaps indicative of the tone of the debate and media coverage were the findings of a survey Sunday that opposition to the bailout plan had declined significantly. But 59% of voters still worried that the federal government will intervene too much in the markets, a finding consistent with earlier surveys.

Investors by a 49% to 41% margin want Congress to take action to help the financial industry. A plurality (44%) also believe congressional rejection of the economic plan will hurt the economy.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the former head of the Goldman-Sachs investment house and the architect of the bailout plan, gets a very narrow vote of confidence in the survey. Thirty-six percent (36%) say he should not resign, 31% say he should, and 33% are undecided.

Forty-one percent (41%) are Very Concerned that the U.S. economy will slip into a depression similar to 1929. Fifty-one percent (51%) of women feel that way versus 32% of men. Fifty-four percent (54%) of Democrats are also Very Concerned about a new Great Depression, while just 28% of Republicans and 39% of unaffiliated voters agree.

See survey questions and toplines. Crosstabs available for Premium Members only.