Less than a quarter of Americans support making significant cuts to Social Security or Medicare, according to a new poll conducted for NBC News and The Wall Street Journal. Americans by large margins said that it was "unacceptable'' to make significant cuts in the retirement and health care programs in order to reduce the federal deficit. That view was shared by people of all ages and ideologies. Watch Rachel Maddow analyze the poll results. What do you think?  Take the poll.  Sen. Bernie Sanders formed the Defend Social Security Caucus in the Senate. Become a citizen member.

Here are some of the key findings of the poll published on Wednesday:

What do Americans want the federal government to do to reduce the deficit?

81 percent of the American people believe it is totally acceptable or mostly acceptable to impose a surtax on millionaires to reduce the deficit.

74 percent of the American people believe it is totally acceptable or mostly acceptable to eliminate tax credits for the oil and gas industry.

68 percent of the American people believe it is totally acceptable or mostly acceptable to phase out the Bush tax cuts for families earning over $250,000 a year.

76 percent of the American people believe it is totally acceptable or mostly acceptable to eliminate funding for weapons systems the Defense Department says are not necessary.

57 percent of the American people believe it is totally acceptable or mostly acceptable to eliminate subsidies to build new nuclear power plants.

What do Americans not want the federal government to do to reduce the deficit?

76 percent believe it is totally unacceptable or mostly unacceptable to cut Medicare to significantly reduce the budget deficit.

77 percent believe it is totally unacceptable or mostly unacceptable to cut Social Security to significantly reduce the deficit.

67 percent believe it is totally unacceptable or mostly unacceptable to cut Medicaid to significantly reduce the deficit.

77 percent believe it is totally unacceptable or mostly unacceptable to cut funding for K-12 education to significantly reduce the deficit.

56 percent believe it is totally unacceptable or mostly unacceptable to cut Head Start.

59 percent believe it is totally unacceptable or mostly unacceptable to cut college student loans.

65 percent believe it is totally unacceptable or mostly unacceptable to cut heating assistance to low income families.