Idaho's attempt to avoid the fiscal cliff

BOISE (AP) - U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo and U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson could play key roles in crafting legislation concerning the nation's deficit and debt as the so-called fiscal cliff approaches.

The Idaho Statesman said the two Republican lawmakers from Idaho say they want to see a deal reached.

"My first preference is we put together that kind of plan in the lame-duck session," Crapo said.

Crapo is a member of the bipartisan "Gang of Six" that pushed for a bargain last year. He's also moving up to the No. 2 Republican on the Finance Committee involved in writing tax provisions.

Simpson is an Appropriations subcommittee chairman and would be working on budget cuts.

Both lawmakers said working out a bargain could take a significant amount of time.

"If you're going to reform the tax code, if you're going to reform the entitlement program, that's not something you can do in a couple of weeks," Simpson said.

The fiscal cliff is an economy-rattling combination of expiring Bush- and Obama-era tax cuts and major across-the-board spending cuts to the Pentagon and domestic programs set to kick in Jan. 1.

Crapo said he sees a bill that puts caps on federal budgets and entitlement costs and a range of possible tax rates. Those outlines would be handed to congressional committees to figure out the details.

"If you do something big, you have to involve the committees," Simpson said.

Idaho Republican Rep. Raul Labrador in the run up to the election said he's not in favor or Congress taking any major action in the lame-duck session.

"Every major decision that is made during a lame-duck session is actually bad for America," he said.

It's unclear how the two sides will deal with their disagreement about raising taxes on wealthy Americans. President Barack Obama said Friday that his re-election gave him a mandate to pursue that position because "the majority of Americans agree with my approach." House Speaker John Boehner said raising tax rates as Obama wants "will destroy jobs in America."

"Both President Obama and Speaker Boehner have said they were willing to come together on these larger issues," Crapo said.