If the latest Rasmussen poll is an accurate reflection of Kansans' concern about the proposed bailout bill passed by the Senate, voters should be pleased with Pat Roberts' and Sam Brownback's vote Wednesday night.

Both voted against a rescue plan that many critics think is an unwise way to reward what they perceive as corporate incompetence.

According to Rasmussen Reports, the solution for many Americans may be simpler and much, much cheaper: a tax cut.

"Just as many American adults think an across-the-board tax cut would help the economy as the number who favor Congress passing a financial rescue plan," said Rasmussen.

"Thirty-nine percent favor each option, and 22 percent are undecided in the survey taken Monday and Tuesday nights," the report said. On Monday, the House rejection of the $700 billion package triggered a 777-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the largest one-day drop since 1987. 

More poll findings:

• "Forty percent are more worried that Congress will pass a new version of the bailout bill rather than doing nothing." A slightly smaller number worry Congress will do nothing. 
• Even among investors with a stake in the markets, less than half think a bailout will help the economy. Forty-seven percent want a bailout, but 36 percent think an across-the-board tax-cut would have a better effect.
• Forty-two percent of respondents who said Congress' inability to pass a rescue bill will hurt them personally, but a third think it will have no effect at all. More than ten percent think a bailout bill will hurt their personal finances.

Both Democratic and Republican presidential nominees supported the bailout bill in the senate. Nationally, Republicans are generally more skeptical of the bailout plan and its overall impact than Democrats. Among Kansas' elected representatives, so far only Rep. Dennis Moore, a Democrat, has supported the bailouts.

In a report yesterday in Kansas Liberty, Moore's election rival, State Sen. Nick Jordan, said Moore has so far received $30,000 from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two financial institutions at the heart of the bailout proposal.

As always with so-called "must-pass"legislation, the bill has been burdened with extraneous add-ons. The original proposal was a couple of pages long. The current bill is over 400 pages in length.

Congressional Democrats have so far succeeded in embedding in the bill funding mechanisms that will route money to ACORN, a far-left consortium of community organizers, give support to unions, and channel various kinds of help to other activist groups.

• Resource: Rasmussen Reports.

The Week in Review