June 12 (Bloomberg) -- Most Americans say U.S. chief executive officers are unethical and overpaid, a new Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll found.

More than six in 10 people surveyed say CEOs are ``not too ethical'' or ``not ethical at all,'' versus 33 percent who call them ``mostly ethical.'' An overwhelming majority, more than eight in 10, say executives are paid too much. At the same time, Americans remain upbeat about the state of the economy.

``The shadow of the corporate scandals is a long one,'' said Nell Minow, editor of the Corporate Library, a corporate governance research firm in Portland, Maine. ``That, combined with the natural skepticism about people at the top, is going to last for a long time.''

Lingering antagonism toward the boardroom set could mean that Democrats, who have been leery of being labeled anti- business in the past, may be emboldened in efforts to curb executive compensation and tighten financial regulation. The House of Representatives in April approved a measure to give shareholders more say on how top executives are paid. A similar bill is working its way through the Senate.

The poll findings reflect ``anger on the part of the average American'' said Representative Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat. ``It's obviously important for the legislation and I would hope CEOs and others would look at this,'' said Frank, who has made reining in executive pay a priority since taking over in January as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Eroding Responsibility

``Shareholders already have the right to vote on pay packages,'' said Tom Lehner, public policy director at the Business Roundtable, a Washington-based group representing chief executives of major U.S. companies. By mandating annual votes on pay, ``this legislation would erode board responsibility and move us toward referendum-style corporate governance,'' he said.

The median compensation last year for CEOs of S&P 500 companies was $10.8 million, and the median increase over the previous year was 23.8 percent, according to Minow's group.

``CEOs don't care about the country or the planet, just about the stock price and how to make themselves richer,'' said Chris Rebbeck, 53, a poll respondent and Democratic voter who runs an air-freight company in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Americans' antipathy to business leaders isn't coloring their views of the country's economic performance; they're generally bullish, according to the poll.

Economic Optimism

A majority of respondents -- 57 percent -- say the economy is doing well, versus 41 percent who feel it's doing badly. That's virtually unchanged from April sentiment.

The optimism spans income groups, as almost seven in 10 of those earning more than $100,000 a year say the economy is doing well and a slight majority of those making less than $40,000 agree. Men overall are much more optimistic, with 68 percent positive on the economy compared with 49 percent of women.

By a margin of 35 percent to 26 percent, Americans say they're better off financially than they were three years ago, with 38 percent saying their circumstances are about the same. Only among those with incomes less than $40,000 did more respondents say they're worse off than three years ago, by a margin of 37 percent to 22 percent. More than half of those with incomes greater than $100,000 say they're better off.

Americans remain unfazed by the housing slowdown, with 82 percent saying they expect home values in their neighborhood to stay the same or increase over the next six months and only 15 percent bracing for a decline.

Blaming Oil Companies

Members of all income groups hold oil companies primarily responsible for high gasoline prices, the poll found, with about four in 10 saying the U.S. oil industry is the reason for soaring prices at the pump, while slightly more than two in 10 named the Bush administration. Market forces were cited by 12 percent of respondents and oil exporting nations by 10 percent.

Oil companies manipulate refinery capacity to maximize profits, says Jennifer Liesen, a stay-at-home mother in Dexter, Michigan. ``Then they blame it all on supply and demand,'' said the 29-year-old Republican. ``It's unethical.''

The price of a gallon of gasoline rose $1.08, or 50 percent, to $3.23 between Jan. 24 and May 23, according to the American Automobile Association. It has since fallen to $3.07.

In response to a similar question in June 2004, 20 percent of respondents said the oil industry was primarily to blame, while 24 percent held the Bush administration responsible and 25 percent attributed high prices to oil-exporting nations in the Middle East.

The poll of 1,183 adults was taken June 7-10 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Little Credit for Bush

All income groups and genders agree that President George W. Bush deserves little credit for the economy's strength. Almost six in 10 respondents disapprove of the job he's doing, including a majority of every income group and both women and men.

``I'm making a little money on my investments,'' said Andy Krier, 83, a retired carpenter in Chicago who thinks the economy is performing fairly well. Bush, however, has nothing to do with it, said Krier, a registered Democrat who splits his ticket among Democrats and Republicans. ``He's spending too much money overseas and doing nothing for the little man.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Benjamin in Washington at mbenjamin2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 12, 2007 17:00 EDT