Majority of Americans oppose the U.S. bailout of Greece

A majority of Americans (63 percent) oppose the U.S. helping to stabilize the Greek economy, according to a poll by Rasmussen Reports last week. Another 17 percent were undecided on the subject. 

The survey also found 79 percent of Americans are concerned the financial crisis in Europe will negatively affect the U.S. Of them, 38 percent are very concerned. 

The findings come as House Republican leaders last week introduced legislation blocking U.S. tax dollars from being used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to bail out European countries. 

The IMF and the European Union have pledged $145 billion to help Greece better handle its debt. The U.S. is a chief contributor to the IMF and would be responsible for a large portion of what the IMF pays to Greece. 

Since the turmoil in Greece, other EU countries have acknowledged problems with their debt, and the IMF and EU have upped the bailout to roughly $1 trillion.  

The GOP bill, titled the European Bailout Protection Act, prohibits any funds that have been drawn by the IMF from financing an EU bailout until all EU nations are in compliance with their debt-to-GDP-ration requirement. It also requires the Treasury Secretary to oppose any IMF loans until all EU countries abide by the aforementioned ratio. 

Under these requirements, the U.S. would be prohibited from participating in the bailouts proposed recently by the EU.