Former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has come out against the US government’s proposed bailout of Wall Street. But what do the American people think?

Gingrich slams Paulson rescue plan. At a downtown poll briefing with reporters, Gingrich issued a strong rebuke of the bailout plan offered by Treasury Sec. Henry Paulson and gave scathing reviews of the bill he anticipated would be written by Senate Banking Committee chairman Chris Dodd and House Financial Services chairman Barney Frank, both Democrats. — RealClearPolitics

Newt is right. There are so many good reasons to oppose this plan — on policy, on politics, on common sense — that it’s crazy to think that anyone is even remotely taking it seriously. It’s not a bailout, it’s a gift to the Wall Street elites who made a bad bet, and now want us to pay the bill. — Daily KOS

Americans don’t favor the Bush bailout. The way this bailout has been discussed in the establishment media, it would seem as though the Bush plan enjoyed the overwhelming support of the American people, that voters strongly endorsed the idea of throwing $700 billion to the financial sector, whose policies and actions were in many ways a leading cause of the current economic downturn. Yet this is clearly not the case. A scant quarter of likely voters favor the Bush bailout, with a plurality opposing the plan.– MyDD

Obama: The bailout just ate universal health care, energy policy, college… Barack Obama made clear today exactly what is at stake if Congress approves the Administration’s proposed bailout of Wall Street without asking that those responsible for the financial mess pay for it: Every proposal for universal health care, transforming our energy system, helping people pay for college, and so on may go down the tubes, compliments of Republican fiscal and financial mismanagement. — Firedoglake