Americans rate Fed worst among 9 key agencies

WASHINGTON -- The share of Americans who think the Federal Reserve is doing an excellent to good job has sunk even as chairman Ben Bernanke has taken unprecedented steps to try to prevent a financial catastrophe, according to a new poll released Monday.

Many analysts credit Bernanke's unconventional approach with averting disaster last year. But his support of taxpayer bailouts of big financial firms such as insurance giant American International Group upset the public and many lawmakers.

The Gallup poll, conducted in mid-July, found that only 30% rated the Fed as doing an "excellent/good" job.

It was the lowest such score out of nine government agencies. And it was down sharply from the 53% who thought the Fed was doing an excellent to good job in a survey in 2003. At that time, then-Fed chief Alan Greenspan was steering a fragile economy back from the 2001 recession, terror attacks and corporate accounting scandals that had rocked Wall Street.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention topped the list with 61% of poll respondents rating that agency excellent to good. NASA and the FBI tied for second place at 58% each.

The CIA, the Department of Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Internal Revenue Service and the Food and Drug Administration all earned scores higher than the Fed's, the poll said.

The results come at a delicate time for Bernanke. His term expires early next year, and President Obama will have to decide whether to reappoint him to a new four-year term or find a replacement. Bernanke has been under fire on Capitol Hill for rescuing AIG to the tune of more than $180 billion.

He faces skeptical lawmakers wary of expanding the Fed's powers — as envisioned by the Obama administration — given the failure of the Fed and other regulators to detect problems that led to the financial crisis. The administration wants the Fed to police big financial companies whose failure could endanger the entire economy.