CBS 
 
 Most Americans believe the massive federal budget deficit is a very serious problem that will create hardships for future generations, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll. 
 
 Sixty-four percent say they are very concerned the deficit will create hardship in the future, and another 26 percent are somewhat concerned. Just eight percent say they are not concerned. 
 
 Fifty-six percent say the deficit needs immediate action, while 38 percent say efforts to address the deficit can wait until the economy has improved. Republicans and independents were more likely to push to deal with the deficit now, while Democrats were more likely to say it can wait. 
 
 So how do Americans propose to address the deficit? By cutting programs, not raising taxes. Sixty-two percent would prefer to cut programs from which they benefit, including 81 percent of Republicans. Just 29 percent want taxes raised, including 42 percent of Democrats. 
 
 Pollsters asked Americans which of three programs - the military, Medicare and Social Security - they would be willing to change to cut government spending. The military was by far the top choice, cited by 55 percent. Twenty-one percent cited Medicare, and 13 percent Social Security. 
 
 Asked specifically which of four options they would prefer to reduce military spending, the top choice (cited by 55 percent) was reducing troops in Europe and Asia. Nineteen percent wanted to eliminate weapons programs, 12 percent wanted to reduce non-combat military pay, and seven percent wanted to reduce the size of the armed forces. 
 
 Vince Bucci 
 
 In light of the fact that Medicare and Social Security take up a sizable chunk of the budget, respondents were asked whether they would prefer to reduce benefits or raise taxes to maintain the programs. Just one in four wanted to reduce benefits, while two in three favored raising taxes. 
 
 Given four options for reducing the deficit tied to Medicare, 48 percent said they would prefer to raise premiums for high-income Americans; 21 percent said they would prefer to raise the age for people to receive benefits; 16 percent wanted to raise premiums for all; and nine percent favored covering fewer treatments. 
 
 Given three options to keep Social Security financially sound, a clear majority chose reducing benefits for high-income Americans. Eighteen percent wanted to raise the age for people to receive benefits, and eight percent would reduce scheduled benefit increases. 
 
 Americans were also given four options for raising taxes to reduce the deficit and asked to choose between them. Thirty-three percent favored creating a national sales tax, while 32 percent favored limiting the mortgage interest deduction. Twelve percent wanted to raise the national gasoline tax, and ten percent favored taxing health insurance benefits. 
 
 Three in four Americans say it is acceptable for the government to run deficits - so long as they are kept manageable or only exist in emergency situations. Sixteen percent say deficits are never acceptable. 
 
 The Economy 
 
 Despite Americans' concerns about the deficit, the vast majority do not see it as the nation's most pressing problem. Just six percent say the deficit is the nation's most important problem, the same percent that cite health care. By contrast, 51 percent say the economy and jobs are the paramount issue. 
 
 Just 26 percent say the economy is in good shape, while 74 percent say it's in bad shape. Still, that's an improvement from November, when 18 percent said they economy was in good shape, and February 2009, when just 5 percent said as much. 
 
 Thirty percent say the economy is getting better, while 21 percent say it is getting worse and 46 percent see no change in either direction. Thirty percent say the bad economy has reduced their wages or benefits, while roughly 70 percent say it has not. 
 
 Thirty-six percent of Americans say they have received a pay raise in the past year, and 28 percent say they received a raise one to two years ago. Twenty-nine percent said they it has been more than two years since they got a raise. 
 
 Americans remain concerned their jobs may disappear. Forty-one percent say they are very concerned about household job loss in the next year, compared to 36 percent who said as much in October. Only one in three say they are not very concerned or not at all concerned. 
 
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 Read the Complete Poll 
 
 Watch Washington Unplugged's political roundtable with CBS News Director of Surveys Sarah Dutton and CBS Evening News Senior Producer Ward Sloane here. ||||| On Thursday, a large group of House conservatives called for cutting $2.5 trillion in mostly unspecified spending over the next decade and House Republican leaders have vowed to make spending cuts a priority in coming months after winning a majority on that promise in November’s midterm elections. President Obama is expected to make fiscal responsibility a central theme of his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, and of the budget he will send Congress next month for the 2012 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1. 
 
 The antitax sentiment reflected in the poll is in line with Republicans’ mantra that spending, not taxes, is the problem for the federal budget . Yet that assessment contradicts the conclusions of several bipartisan and academic panels that proposed debt-reduction plans over the past year. 
 
 Those groups — including, in November, a bipartisan majority of Mr. Obama’s fiscal commission — each concluded that the growth in the nation’s debt could not be reined in with spending cuts alone. They said the required reductions, including for Medicare and Social Security, would be deeper than anything the public would accept. 
 
 The poll of 1,036 adults nationwide, which has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points, was conducted Jan. 15 through 19 — in the days after Mr. Obama gave a widely praised address at a Tucson memorial service for those killed in the shooting rampage that wounded Representative Gabrielle Giffords , Democrat of Arizona . Nearly two-thirds of Americans approve of his response to the shooting, the poll showed; 11 percent disapprove. 
 
 National tragedies or crises often have a rallying-around effect that buoys a president’s public image. The poll, like others recently, shows Mr. Obama with a slightly improved approval rating. Nearly half of Americans, 49 percent, approve of his job performance, compared with 39 percent who do not. 
 
 The public also gives Mr. Obama the benefit of the doubt as he and Republicans adjust to their new power-sharing relationship. After a productive lame-duck session of Congress late last year, in which Mr. Obama won a number of concessions from Republicans in return for extending the Bush-era tax cuts on high incomes, the poll showed that nearly eight out of 10 Americans believe Mr. Obama will try to work with Republicans to get things done — including 77 percent of independents and 57 percent of Republicans. Less than half of all respondents — 46 percent — said Republicans will try to work with Mr. Obama. 
 
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 The president holds no advantage over Republicans, however, on addressing the deficit and job creation. Americans split on whom they trust more to make the right decisions on both issues. The poll holds other warning signs for the president. With the unemployment rate remaining above 9 percent, majorities disapprove of his handling of the economy (52 percent), job creation (54 percent) and the deficit (56 percent). 
 
 Fewer people than ever think Mr. Obama has the same priorities for the country as they do: 52 percent say he does not share their priorities, down from 65 percent who said he did when Mr. Obama first took office. 
 
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 Representative John A. Boehner , a Republican of Ohio who is the new House speaker, is relatively unknown to the national public; the roughly one-quarter who have an opinion of him are split between those with negative and positive views. 
 
 A far-better-known Republican, Sarah Palin , also is far more disliked. She is viewed unfavorably by 57 percent of the public, including a majority of independents — her highest negative rating ever in Times/CBS polls. 
 
 In a week that saw House Republicans vote to repeal Mr. Obama’s signature domestic achievement, the law overhauling the health care system, nearly half of Americans said the law should stand. About four in 10 people support repeal, but many say they want to undo only parts of the law. 
 
 Asked what Congress should focus on, 43 percent of Americans say job creation; health care is a distant second, cited by 18 percent, followed by deficit reduction, war and illegal immigration . 
 
 If Medicare benefits have to be reduced, the most popular option is raising premiums on affluent beneficiaries. Similarly, if Social Security benefits must be changed to make the program more financially sound, a broad majority prefers the burden fall on the wealthy. Even most wealthy Americans agree. 
 
 As budget woes force a national debate over the country’s domestic priorities, preserving money for education ranks at the top for most Americans. 
 
 The poll showed that the Arizona shootings had not changed Americans’ general opposition to banning handguns. However, more than six in 10 favor a nationwide ban on assault weapons and on the kind of high-capacity magazine used in Tucson.
– Some 56% of Americans want the massive federal budget deficit dealt with now instead of when the economy improves, according to a New York Times/CBS poll, and 62% say they would prefer the deficit be addressed through spending cuts, rather than higher taxes. That preference, however, changed when respondents were asked about specific cuts to Medicare or Social Security—the two government programs that touch the most people, and are expected to be the biggest causes of future deficits. Some 55% of respondents said that if Medicare, Social Security, or the military needed to be cut, they would prefer the ax falls on the Pentagon. The findings highlight the difficulty President Obama and Congress will have reaching a consensus on ways to reduce the deficit. House Republicans have called for slashing $2.5 trillion in spending over the next decade, but their plan hasn't specified where most of the cuts will come.