Massive 6-to-1 Majority Favors Tougher Regulation of Wall Street

An overwhelming 83 percent of adults think that recent events have shown that "Wall Street should be subject to tougher regulation." At the same time, by almost 2-to-1, a strong 62 percent to 34 percent majority believes that "Wall Street is absolutely essential."

The problem is that few U.S. adults trust or have confidence in the people who run Wall Street, and think they are overpaid. By more than 2-to-1, they believe that most people on Wall Street would be willing to break the law if they could make a lot of money and get away with it, and that most successful people on Wall Street do not deserve to make the money they earn.

These are some of the results of a Harris poll of 1,010 adults surveyed by telephone between April 12 and 18.

The results carry political peril for Republicans who are seen as the biggest backers of business interests in Washington.

Each year the Harris poll asks a series of questions about Wall Street. The survey defines Wall Street to include "the nation's largest banks, investment banks, stockbrokers and other financial institutions."

Some of the other main findings of this year's poll are:

•By 55 percent to 39 percent most adults believe that Wall Street and what it does benefits the country;
•By 75 percent to 21 percent they believe that Wall Street firms should only pay bonuses when they are doing well and making good profits;
•By 64 percent to 31 percent they do not believe that what is good for Wall Street is good for the country;
•By 66 percent to 31 percent they do not believe most successful people on Wall Street deserve to make the kind of money they earn; and,
•By an even larger 70 percent to 26 percent majority they do not believe that people on Wall Street are as honest and moral as other people.

There is no sign of any recovery in Wall Street's reputation. Most of these numbers are little changed from last year, and are substantially worse than they were before the financial crisis of 2008.

"While the nation's financial institutions may have their friends on Capitol Hill, the great majority of the public is still highly critical of them and the people who run them," a Harris analysis of the poll results says. "From a political point of view they are still an easy target for the Democrats. As next year's elections get closer, Republicans will need to avoid being seen as the party of big business, big oil and, as this survey shows, big banks. To be seen as a friend of Wall Street may not sit well with the American voter."

It's not clear that the GOP understands this last point. Democrats skewered Republicans this week, as a majority of the Senate GOP voted to maintain taxpayer-funded subsidies to the five largest oil companies, defeating a Democratic bill which would have repealed those giveaways.

http://www.thewashingtoncurrent.com/2011/05/massive-6-to-1-majority-favors-tough...