Public Policy Polling for Daily Kos. 1/20-23. Registered voters. MoE 3.1% (No trend lines)
"Which of the following statements best describes your opinion on the United States' current economic situation: corporate greed helped lead to the current crisis and these practices need to be reined in to fix our economy - or - now is not the time to constrict corporations while we are trying to get our economy back on track?"
Rein in Now is not Not sure
practices the time
to fix to constrict
economy corporations
All 59 33 8
Women 67 25 8
Men 51 43 7
Dem 80 15 5
Rep 35 54 10
Ind 59 32 8
White 56 36 8
Black 71 20 9
Asian 59 31 10
Latino 67 30 4
Tea Party 37 57 6
Non-TP 67 27 6
18-29 57 29 14
30-45 57 37 6
46-65 63 32 5
65+ 57 34 9
Northeast 70 25 5
Midwest 58 34 8
South 50 40 10
West 61 32 6
$0-30K 63 28 8
$30-$50K 58 35 7
$50-$75K 63 29 8
$75-$100K 55 40 6
$100K+ 57 34 9
No surprise that the chief proponents of keeping the corporate world unleashed are overlapping categories of Republicans and Tea Partyers. But more than a third of both say greedy practices should be reined in. There are some surprises elsewhere in the poll. While big gaps exist between various demographic segments, as you can see, a majority of every geographical region, every age group, both sexes, all racial groups and every income cohort wants more corporate regulation. In most cases, it's a significant majority.
Such data will, of course, be less than a gnat's bite to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which seeks to overturn every newly passed financial regulation it possibly can, as Kevin Bogardus recently reported. We can expect the hilariously named chamber ally, the Committee for Truth in Politics, to pour hundreds of millions into a campaign to get business out from under the boot heel of allegedly burdensome regulations. They'll make the usual phony claim that their special interests represent the general interest. Their biggest target remains the best thing to emerge from the Great Recession, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. But if the CFPB didn't exist they'd be after something else. Years ago it was "burdensome" truth-in-lending, truth-in-advertising and food-labeling laws. It's remarkable they aren't fighting to make rear-view mirrors and turn-signals optional.
The poll indicates that the American public doesn't agree with this unfettered corporation approach. Potent data for any Democrat who cares to make use of them.