A new Newsweek poll features some notable findings on the key economic debates playing out in Washington and in the media right now.
For instance, a majority of Americans supports temporary nationalization of failing banks over government financial aid without government control. Fifty-six percent of respondents said nationalization is the better way to deal with failing banks.
11. Temporary nationalization is another way for the federal government to deal with large banks in danger of failing. This is where the government takes over a failing bank, cleans its balance sheets, and then quickly sells it off. In general, which do YOU think is the better way to deal with failing banks...
29 Government financial aid WITHOUT any government control of the bank, OR
56 Nationalization, where the government takes temporary control?
11 Neither/Other (VOL.)
4 (DO NOT READ) Don't know
100
Congressional Republicans fought to reduce the size of the Obama administration's economic stimulus package, but a 40% plurality of a respondents said the administration's $800 billion stimulus should be just a starting point -- more money will be necessary for it to be effective. Thirty-seven percent told pollsters the stimulus won't work at all and that the government shouldn't be spending money this way. Another 15% said the stimulus was just the right size.
The survey had some particularly bad news for congressional Republicans, who are struggling right now not to appear as obstructionists. Only 31% of those polled said they thought the Republican opposition had a plan of its own for turning the economy around. Nearly 60 percent -- including 42% of Republicans -- said the GOP has no economic plan.