Repayment Doesn't Make Future Bailouts More Popular

Half of American adults nationwide believe it's at least somewhat likely that General Motors and Chrysler will repay their bailouts in full, but only one-in-five say full repayment will make them look more favorably on government bailouts in the future.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 50% of Adults say it's at least somewhat likely that the taxpayer money used to bailout GM and Chrysler will be repaid, including 23% who say it's Very Likely. Forty-four percent (44%) say it's not likely the money will be repaid, including 11% who say it's Not At All Likely. (To see survey question wording, click here.) 

These results are similar to those found in June, but show a large shift from January, when just 36% said it was likely the bailout money would be repaid.

For the first time, however, most Americans now don't think last year's government bailout of GM and Chrysler was a bad move. Prior to these findings, Americans consistently for well over a year have been opposed to the auto bailouts.

But just 21% say they would look more favorably on future bailouts if GM remains in business and fully repays its taxpayer bailout. Another 21% say that would make them look less favorably on bailouts in the future, and 55% say it would have no impact on their thinking.

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The survey of 1,000 Adults nationwide was conducted on November 18-19, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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