Poll: Americans Reject Crony Capitalism, 3-1

In a recent Boston Herald column, pollster Scott Rasmussen of Rasmussen Reports cited poll findings that show strong bipartisan opposition to cronyism and its effects on free markets.

A few highlights from Rasmussen’s soundings: 

• Only 16 percent of voters said the government’s loan guarantees to Solyndra was a good idea
• Just 27 percent think “it’s ever OK for the government to make investments in private companies”
• 71 percent of voters believe “private sector companies and investors are better than government officials at determining the long-term benefits and potential of new technologies” and that just 11 percent think “government officials have a better eye for future value”
• 64 percent think government money will be wasted “if the government provides funding for a project that private investors refuse to back”
• 66 percent of voters believe crony connections drive most government contracts
• “By a 3-1 margin, voters believe elected politicians routinely provide help to favored companies. Second, seven out of 10 Americans believe government and big business work together against the rest of us.”

The numbers point to a widespread, bipartisan view among voters that cronyism is undermining America’s free market system and the economic freedom it produces.