New Judicial Watch/Zogby Poll: 81.7% of Americans Say Political Corruption Played a SMajor Role in Financial Crisis

Obama with Slight Edge over McCain as Candidate Trusted Most to Combat Corruption

86.4% Say Congressional Corruption Has Increased or Remained the Same Since Democrats Took Control

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released the results of a nationwide poll conducted by Zogby International concerning the American people"s attitudes towards political corruption. Among the poll"s highlights of 1,211 likely voters, conducted October 16-19, 2008 (margin of error is +/- 2.9%):

• 62.6% said they "strongly agree" with the statement, "...political corruption played a major role in our nation's recent financial crisis." An additional 19.1% said they "somewhat agree" with that statement.
• 46.9% said they trust Barack Obama more than John McCain to combat government corruption in Washington, while 43.2% preferred Senator McCain over Senator Obama. Sen. Biden (46.8%) also had a slight lead on this question over Gov. Palin (44.7%)
• 30.5% said Congress has become "more corrupt" since Democrats took control of Congress away from Republicans. Another 8.5% said Congress had become "less corrupt," while 55.9% said corruption had "remained about the same" since Democrats took control.
• 44% said they trust Democrats more than Republicans to combat corruption in Washington, while 37.4% preferred Republicans to combat corruption.
• 69.2% said they "strongly agree" with the statement that corruption is a "significant problem in Washington, DC," while an additional 22.7% said they "somewhat agree" with that statement.
• 47.5% of respondents said they "strongly agree" with the statement that "bigger government leads to more corruption," while an additional 25.4% said they "somewhat agree" with that statement.

"This poll shows Americans have an overwhelming concern about political corruption. There is no doubt that Americans believe that the financial crisis and political corruption are tied," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "And our poll shows the presidential candidate who is best seen as able to combat Washington corruption should go on to win the Oval Office. Both Obama and McCain would do well to pay serious attention to the political corruption issue and better address it in the coming two weeks."

For the further details on these results, including party/demographic breakdowns, visit www.judicialwatch.org

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[Source: Judicial Watch - - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

Mutual Fund Withdrawals a Record as Investors Flee (Update1)

Investors pulled a record $52.1 billion from U.S.-managed stock and bond mutual funds in the past week, seeking the safety of government-insured bank deposits as the financial crisis worsened.

Shareholders took $43.3 billion from stock funds and $8.8 billion from bond funds in the week ended Oct. 8, according to data compiled by TrimTabs Investment Research in Sausalito, California. The exodus followed $72.3 billion of outflows in September, the most in a single month. Investors deposited $185.5 billion into bank accounts last month through Sept. 22, TrimTabs said, citing U.S. Federal Reserve data.

``People are scared,'' Conrad Gann, TrimTabs' chief operating officer, said in an interview. ``This market is different from what we've seen before.''

The five largest diversified U.S. stock fund managers, including Fidelity Investments and Vanguard Group Inc., posted an average 28 percent loss this year through Oct. 6, about 2 percentage points worse than the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, according to Morningstar Inc. Investors mostly switched into fixed-income through August, putting $97 billion into bond funds while withdrawing $74 billion from stock funds, TrimTabs said.
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