Poll: Americans Skeptical of More Aid for U.S. Automakers

According to a Gallup poll released yesterday, 72% of Americans think giving GM and Chrysler another $21 billion is a bad idea. The two automakers have already received about $17 billion in government loans.

Breaking opinions down by political views, Democrats favor additional support more than Republicans. Still, the majority of both groups says “no” to more money. Surprisingly, Midwestern folk (where many of the Big Three factories remain) are as down on additional bailouts as are other regions of the country.

The reduced support for more aid may have to do with the idea that the companies won’t survive, even with a handout. Only 51% of Americans believed that all of the Big Three would survive – that’s down 6% from just mid-December – according to Gallup.

This week, Chrysler and GM officials met with President Barack Obama’s newly formed auto task force to discuss whether they will get more money, or if they should declare bankruptcy down the line. Should the task force follow public opinion, Chrysler and GM may be left to their own devices in the near future.

Americans Reject Sequel to Auto Bailout (Gallup)

Comments

I came up short on the rent for my business after I paid myself a handsome bonus, bought a second Porsche 911, and paid for my month-long vacation to the South of France this Summer. I need a bail-out, does any one have Obama or Pelosi's phone number?

Why are you wasting time typing a response? Shouldn't you be working to pay your FAIR share of the bail-out!?

If not bailing them out is the smart thing to do then I guarantee our President will give them as much money as they want. Today he pro-claimed that our combat mission in Iraq will end on August 31, 2010. We'll as much as I'd like to believe that he already lied about having no pork in the stimulus bill so he's already proven to be your typical Washington insider - a very good liar.

please explain pork in the stimulus bill

one state pork is anothers beef

If we bail the Big 3 out will they produce vehicles that we want or are we simply providing life support?

If "the one" needs to ask for someone to explain the pork in the stimulus package then he needs to change his posting name to "the dumb".

Christopher and Kelsey1- I'll bite. Call me dumb, too. But please go ahead and post 5 specific examples of pork and why you feel each qualifies as pork.

http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2009020710/firing-back-obama-recovery-package-again

they cant nobody can, if new york gets 1 billion for road constructions than new jersey is gonna say thats pork spending

There were no earmarks in the bill and thats what the President promised.

Americans are going to be against the bailout because they are getting bad information. When the media is falsely reporting that UAW workers are getting $70/hr Americans are going to oppose the bailout. Americans are ill informed and if you ask an ignorant person a question in a poll you are going to get useless results. Ask Americans if they oppose the bailout even if that means production by the transplants could be permanently impacted and the resuls will likely change. There is a reason why Toyota and Honda havent come out against the bailout. They know that the suppliers are on thin ice and if the Big 3 go down so could the suppliers. That could mean the end of American production of cars, or at least a severe contraction of that production.

The Congressional Budget Office (non-partisan) declared that the President's stimulus bill contains "at least" $308 Billion in pork spending. Three examples are; $200 million for Dept of Homeland Security to make-over their headquarters, $886,000 for a 36-hole golf course in Austin (TX), and $150 million for parking improvements at a Little League facility in Cidra, Puerto Rico.

I voted for the President and still support him but if anyone believes there are $0 pork dollars in the stimulus package they are just plain Stupid.

Work of this blog is very wonderful and workable.

if they cant, nobody can

In my opinion, there is just "too much" of an American car manufacturing base. We need to slim down to the Big 2, and the logical appendage to lop off is Chrysler. If Chrysler can merge with some foreign or domestic entity, then fine, but there really is no compelling business case looking at their product for more loans.

Scott:

You cannot have a definitive list of "pork" because everyone isnt going to agree. Doing renovations to Homeland Security headquarters is probably not pork to the people who would benefit from the project. LAst time I checked a massive renovation project creates jobs which is the point of much of the spending in the bill.

Simple,let GM go under,its too big to be sustainable,Chrysler will take less money to keep afloat.So,take the lesser of 2 evils,let Chrysler survive.Bye GM.Only the redneck pickup truckers will miss you.

Sheth,
It's obvious you are uneducated otherwise you would know the difference between work that does not create jobs (ie "pork") and real job creation. You really can't be that dumb can you? No doubt you are.

Fitz,

Pork cannot be identified definitively. I assure you I am educated enough to grasp that simple concept. If a politician doesnt like a certain project he can grandstand and identify it as pork. Renovations to facilities would not be considered pork by the contractors who would be put back to work on such projects. They are pork to those who think government shouldnt spend any money on projects and foucs on tax cuts. If you can explain to me how a huge building can be renovated without creating any jobs I will be quite impressed. We had politicians opposing money for school construction because they considered that "pork". What could be more wasteful than employing out of work contractors to build replacement schools in our towns and cities? good thing those pols stopped that "waste" so kids can continue to learn in dilapidated structures.

I thought this was interesting. I wonder how much coverage this will get in the US of A. Probably not much. Looks like GM isnt the only one looking for loans these days.

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090303/AUTO01/903030401

2 Billion vs 21.6 Billion.

End of story.

Plus, world's larget automaker vs world's SECOND largest automaker.

this blog is very is informative and nice for car lovers.