Deficit Reduction: Americans Say Do Not Cut Medicare or Social Security

A news flash comes out of the results of this Quinnipiac University National Poll that was released yesterday regarding the federal deficit - and more specifically, what should be done to reduce it.
According to the poll, 84 percent of Americans say the middle class is going to have to make some financial sacrifices in order to reduce the federal budget deficit.
However, a vast majority - more than three quarters - of Americans oppose cutting the growth of Social Security and Medicare in order to reduce the deficit.
When it comes to partisanship, the poll results show a relative gap - 73 percent of Republicans, 84 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of independent voters are against limiting the growth of Social Security...and likewise, 75 percent of Republicans, 80 percent of Democrats and 74 percent of independent voters are opposed to cutting Medicare spending. Interesting!
The results showed other interesting statistics, such as that 42 percent of Americans favor a combination of both tax hikes and spending cuts in order to reduce the deficit, and a majority favor increasing taxes on those individuals who earn more than $250,000 and oppose tax hikes on the middle class. Check out the full results here.
Where do you stand?
The Quinnipiac University poll surveyed 1,907 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 2.2 percentage points.