Financial Reform: More Say Toughen Up

By Mike Mokrzycki

More Americans see proposed new regulations of the financial industry as too weak rather than too strong, a message of possible interest to congressional negotiators as they seek to complete their work on the reform package.

Given what they’ve heard, 35 percent in an ABC News/Washington Post earlier this month said the proposals being developed by Congress and the Obama administration don’t go far enough in regulating banks and other financial institutions, vs. 20 percent who said the reform effort goes too far. The rest, 39 percent, rated it about right.

Today is the last day for negotiators to work out differences between House and Senate bills passed after a lengthy legislative battle over efforts to revamp how Wall Street works and try to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial meltdown.

Views toward reform are informed by partisanship and ideology. Forty-three percent of Republicans say it goes too far, vs. just 6 percent of Democrats. Forty-three percent of Democrats say it doesn’t go far enough; 17 percent of Republicans agree. Independents, as usual, tip the scale: Thirty-nine percent say reform doesn’t go far enough; 19 percent, too far.

Similar patterns are evident by ideology. At the ends of the spectrum, 52 percent of people who say they’re very liberal think financial reform doesn’t go far enough, while 47 percent of the very conservative say it goes too far. At the same time, conservatives overall are more apt to say it doesn’t go far enough (30 percent) than liberals to contend it goes too far (10 percent).

ABC/Post polling consistently has found broad support for such efforts. In April, for example, 65 percent supported increased regulation of how banks and other financial institutions conduct their business. About six in 10 backed increased oversight of consumer loans. A smaller majority favored requiring large institutions to put money into a fund that would take over and break up big financial companies that fail and threaten the broader economy. And Americans split on regulation of the complex financial instruments known as derivatives.
   
More generally, in an ABC news poll in March, 49 percent expressed an unfavorable opinion of banks and other large financial institutions overall, vs. 40 percent favorable. Banks nonetheless have a reservoir of good will: Fifty-six percent trust them to treat their customers fairly and to conduct their business responsibility.

The latest question:

18. On another subject, given what you’ve heard about them, do you think the new financial regulations being developed by Congress and the Obama administration go too far in regulating banks and other financial institutions, don’t go far enough, or are about right?

     Too far   Not far enough   About right   No opinion6/6/10  20%        35           39          6