Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Auto Bailout Now Backed, Stimulus Divisive

Mixed Views of Regulation, Support for Keystone Pipeline

February 23, 2012

Public support for government loans to major U.S. automakers are viewed more positively today than in the fall of 2009, but there has been less change in opinions about other major economic policies such as the federal loans to banks and financial institutions during the 2008 financial crisis and President Obama's economic stimulus plan.

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Feb. 8-12 finds that 56% say the loans the government made to GM and Chrysler were mostly good for the economy, while 38% say the loans to the automakers were mostly bad for the economy. In 2009, 57% viewed the loans negatively while 37% regarded them as mostly good for the economy.

A majority of Americans said in a February 2010 survey that the government was wrong to extend loans to banks and financial institutions through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), and that opposition remains about the same today. Opposition to the Obama administration's 2009 economic stimulus plan is less pronounced than it was two years ago, but a plurality of Americans still disapprove of it.

Read the full report for detailed results about these economic policy issues. The report also contains findings on the public's opinion of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would carry oil from Canada's oil sands to refineries in Texas, and Americans' mixed views regarding government regulation of business.