These poll numbers were released earlier today by Rasmussen Reports -- "an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information."
58% Want to End Small Business Administration Loan Guarantees
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Small businesses are seen by many as the heart of the U.S. economy, and most voters think the best way the government can help them is by staying out of the way.
Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Likely U.S. Voters don't believe the federal government should provide loan guarantees to banks, so they will lend money to someone looking to start their own small business who otherwise couldn't get bank financing. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 23% say the government should provide such loan guarantees. Nineteen percent (19%) are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here .)
The opposition to loan guarantees exists even though voters overestimate the importance of loans in starting a small business. Most businesses get started out of personal savings. Many also start with personal loans such as home equity loans or credit card advances, while only a few actually receive bank financing. But 47% of voters believe that most small businesses get started with bank loans. Twenty-four percent (24%) think most get started with personal savings, while only nine percent (9%) believe their seed funding comes from outside investors. Twenty percent (20%) aren't sure.
Fifty-nine percent (59%) of voters believe reducing government regulations and taxes will do more to help small business than for the government to provide loans to small businessmen who cannot get financing on their own. Just 22% feel it's better for the government to offer loans to those businessmen who can't get outside financing. Eighteen percent (18%) are not sure which course is better.
Entrepreneurs believe even more strongly than others that reducing government regulations and taxes will do more for small businesses, with 76% who feel that way. Sixty-one percent (61%) of entrepreneurs oppose government loans to small businessmen who can't get outside financing, as does a plurality (47%) of those who work for private companies.
As is often the case, the Political Class and Mainstream voters distinctly disagree. Sixty-seven percent (67%) of Mainstream voters, for example, think small businesses will benefit more from reduced regulations and taxes, but 57% of the Political Class think the better course is government loans for small businessmen who cannot get financing on their own.
The national survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on August 13-14, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC . See methodology .
In its early days, the federal Small Business Administration provided direct loans for small businesses nationwide. That sparked fierce opposition from banks, so the agency switched to guaranteeing bank loans and winning industry support. Many consider this a form of corporate welfare, and voters are clearly in a mood ot end corporate welfare spending .
There is little voter support for making direct loans to small businesses either. Just 32% favor such loans while 49%) don't think the government should loan money to people who want to start a business but cannot find financing in the private sector.
Seventy-one percent (71%) believe private sector companies and investors are better than government officials when it comes to determining the long-term benefits and potential of new technologies . Not surprisingly, voters also support ending farm subsidies, aid to large corporations to promote export sales and other corporate welfare programs .
Support for the concept of tax reform is strong. Sixty-four percent (64%) believe it's better to have lower tax rates and very few deductions than to have higher rates and lots of deductions . On the corporate side, just 21% think it's better for the government to provide targeted tax breaks that help certain companies and industries. But 66% want the government to treat all companies and industries on an equal basis.
Voters don't care much for government regulation of the economy, and 70% believe that regulation hurts small businesses more than big ones . But then 68% of voters believe government and big business work together against the interests of consumers and investors .
Sixty-seven percent (67%) of voters believe that thoughtful spending cuts should be considered in every program of the federal government as the nation searches for solutions to the budget crisis.
The Rasmussen Investor Index , which measures daily investor confidence, fell to a two-year low last week but is up slightly at the beginning of this week.
Just 37% now have confidence in the stability of the U.S. banking system . That's down from 68% in the summer of 2008 and the lowest level of confidence yet recorded. The previous low of 39% was found in February 2009.