9家核心政府機構 美聯儲最不得民心

The share of Americans who think the Federal Reserve is doing an excellent-to-good job has sunk even as chairman Ben Bernanke has taken unprecedented steps to try to prevent a financial catastrophe, according to a new poll released Monday.

Many analysts credit Bernanke's unconventional approach with averting disaster last year. But his support of taxpayer bailouts of big financial firms such as insurance giant American International Group upset the public and many lawmakers.

The Gallop poll, conducted in mid-July, found that only 30 percent rated the Fed as doing an "excellent/good" job.

It was the lowest such score out of nine government agencies. And it was down sharply from the 53 percent who thought the Fed was doing an excellent-to-good job in a survey in 2003. At that time, then-Fed chief Alan Greenspan was steering a fragile economy back from the 2001 recession, terror attacks and corporate accounting scandals that had rocked Wall Street.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention topped the list with 61 percent of poll respondents rating that agency excellent to good. NASA and the FBI tied for second place at 58 percent each.

The CIA, the Department of Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Internal Revenue Service and the Food and Drug Administration all earned scores higher than the Fed's, the poll said.

The results come at a delicate time for Bernanke. His term expires early next year, and President Barack Obama will have to decide whether to reappoint him to a new four-year term or find a replacement. Bernanke has been under fire on Capitol Hill for rescuing AIG to the tune of more than $180 billion.

根據本週一發佈的最新民意調查，儘管美聯儲主席本•伯南克已經採取前所未有的措施極力防範金融災難，但是認爲美聯儲做得很好或不錯的美國人卻日漸減少。

許多分析家都對伯南克去年爲防範金融災難而採取的非常措施予以讚賞，但是他用納稅人的錢救助像保險業巨頭美國國際集團這樣的大金融公司卻引起了公衆和許多立法者的不滿。

蓋洛普民意調查公司在七月中旬進行了一項調查，發現只有30%的人認爲美聯儲的工作做得“很好”或“不錯”。

在對九個政府機構的調查中，美聯儲的得分是最低的。在2003年的民意調查中，有53%的人認爲美聯儲的工作做得很好或不錯，與之相比，美聯儲2009年在民衆心目中的地位可謂是急劇下滑。當時的美聯儲主席艾倫•格林斯潘面臨的是2001年的經濟衰退、恐怖襲擊和震動華爾街的一系列重大公司財務醜聞，但是在格林斯潘的引導下，美國疲弱的經濟還是從泥淖中走了出來。

疾病控制和預防中心在這次民意調查中的排名是最高的，有61%的調查受訪者認爲該中心的工作完成得“很好”或“不錯”。美國國家航空航天局和聯邦調查局贏得了58%的民衆的認可，在排名中並列第二。

民意調查報告顯示，美國中央情報局、國土安全部、環境保護局、國內稅務署、食品和藥物管理局的得分都比美聯儲高。

這一結果公佈的時機對於伯南克來說很棘手。他的任期到明年初就到期了，巴拉克•奧巴馬總統需要決定是否讓他連任。伯南克因爲動用高達1800億美元的鉅款救助美國國際集團曾遭到國會抨擊。

Vocabulary:

bailout: 緊急（財政）援助

steer: 指導，帶領

tie: 打成平手，得分相等

to the tune of: 達……之多