Poll: Americans Split On Big 3 Bailout
CBS News Poll: Most Believe That If Taxpayers Do Help Automakers, Government Should Have Say In Companies' Management
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Play CBS Video Video Car Czar To Oversee Bailout? Congress is working overtime on a plan that will help the Big Three before the new year. A possible "car czar" may be appointed to ensure that tax dollars are well spent. Sharyl Attkisson reports.
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(CBS/iStockphoto)
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Timeline Stopgap Measures A look at the series of government moves to try and stem the financial meltdown.
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News Tools Poll Database Search for results from the latest CBS News national polls on the president, the campaign and more.
Forty-five percent of those surveyed approve of government assistance for Ford, General Motors and Chrysler, while nearly as many - 44 percent - disapprove.
There is more consensus when it comes to the conditions of any bailout. More than two in three say that if taxpayers do help automakers, the government should have a say in how the companies are managed.
That could have something to do with whom Americans blame for automakers' current problems: While 28 percent say the companies' struggles are due to conditions beyond their control, a far greater percentage - 56 percent - blame management decisions.
And asked if the government should require U.S. automakers to produce more alternative-fuel cars in exchange for assistance, 66 percent said yes.Read The Complete Poll
Despite the divided views on assisting automakers, fifty-five percent predict there would be a major impact on the economy if the companies go out of business. Thirty-five percent say there would be a minor impact, while eight percent say there would be little or no impact.
The automakers' economic struggles may be having a negative impact on their sales. Thirty-one percent of those surveyed say the companies' economic problems make them less likely to purchase a car from U.S. automakers.
Only 11 percent of those surveyed say the companies' economic struggles make them more likely to buy cars from the automakers. Fifty-five percent say it makes no difference.
This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,098 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone December 4-7, 2008. Phone numbers were dialed from RDD samples of both standard land-lines and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Read The Complete Poll
Michelle Obama tells how her role as the First Lady has changed her perspective.





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See all 155 CommentsThen the economy would be back in business.....I''m sure there would still be money left to go shopping or getting those repairs done that are still sitting on the back burner.
Hospitals can''t turn anyone away if they need medical help even if they have no insurance or can''t pay. So we all pay in the long run ,some more then others.
Here ya go, let the owners of these vehicles pay the bailout via an owners tax and give THEM a stake and real shares in these companies. Let THEM handle it.
Problem solved.
Posted by PKelly79 at 12:51 PM : Dec 09, 2008
Oh really? Perhaps you should check out how they treat their employees and their turn over of employees, healthcare and state aid required for emplyees dur to Walmarts policies is hardly a model company to use.
And just what does WalMart manufacture?
Also using the nations largest employer that is a retail company VS a company that actually creates something other than serve the "consumer nation" is a pretty poor example.
the banks that created this mess got money.
plus in 1980 i lost my job at gm , because nothing was going overseas.
Scrap the UNions who have helped to contribute to their failure and share a huge part in this by their relentless demands and strikes they have Unionized their selves almost out of existance.
This is crazy. Bankruptcy is an option. It is the only option for a company THAT IS BANKRUPT!
But mainly, there need to be some huge shifts in that automaking business, and this bailout needs to ensure that.
I''m VERY uncomfortable with the "Car Czar" overseeing all this, instead of the panel that was first suggested. That''s too much jurisdiction placed in the hands of just one person, which makes it easier for that person to serve special interests and be susceptible to bribes and manipulation. The panel of several people is a much better idea.
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