National Survey of 1,000 Likely Voters
Conducted September 21, 2008
By Rasmussen Reports

1* How closely have you followed news stories about a proposal for the federal government to bail out the nation’s financial system by purchasing up to $700 billion in assets from finance companies?

44% Very closely

38% Somewhat closely

13% Not very closely

3% Not at all

2% Not sure

2* How confident are you that you understand what has caused the economic crunch on Wall Street and what the federal government’s rescue plan would do about it?

23% Very confident

42% Somewhat confident

23% Not very confident

7% Not at all confident

6% Not sure

3* Do you favor or oppose the proposal for the federal government to purchase up to $700 billion in assets from finance companies?

28% Favor

37% Oppose

35% Not sure

4* Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable opinion of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson?

7% Very favorable

31% Somewhat favorable

30% Somewhat unfavorable

11% Very unfavorable

21% Not sure

5* Do you own $5,000 or more in stocks, bonds or mutual funds?

62% Yes

32% No

6% Not sure

NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence