Five Years Later, Poll Finds Disapproval of Bailout

At the fifth anniversary of the recession and bailout package for the nation’s banks and financial institutions, nearly 6 in 10 Americans express disapproval of the 2008 bailout, and only about a third approve, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Republicans were much more likely to express disapproval of the financial bailout, which rescued the American International Group and provided banks like Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America with enough capital to stay afloat as the crisis peaked in the fall of 2008 (but not Lehman Brothers). Nearly three-quarters of Republicans said they disapproved, compared to 6 in 10 independents, and 4 in 10 Democrats.

As the window for bringing cases against financial players closes because of the statute of limitations, nearly 8 in 10 Americans say not enough bankers and employees of financial institutions were prosecuted in their roles in the financial crisis. This was a sentiment shared across the board, by Republicans, Democrats and independents alike.

Overwhelmingly, Americans expect another financial crisis, like the one in 2008, to occur, with nearly 4 in 10 saying it is very likely and about the same number saying it is somewhat likely. Only about 1 in 5 Americans don’t expect a repeat.

The national poll was conducted Sept. 19 to 23 by landline and cellphone among 1,014 adults with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.