Two Senate Republicans, citing the severity of the nation's fiscal problems, said Thursday they would support a deficit reduction plan that would allow taxes to rise dramatically in coming years. The surprising endorsements from Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Mike Crapo of Idaho mean all three GOP senators on President Barack Obama's bipartisan deficit commission - the other is retiring Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire - have backed the group's proposals to rein in the mounting federal deficit. Coburn and Crapo said that despite the heartburn they share over elements of the package, they would sign onto it in hopes of spurring a serious effort to remedy the country's fiscal woes. 'Our debt crisis is a threat not just to our way of life but to our national survival,' Crapo told reporters Thursday in an appearance alongside Coburn. 'And the threat that we face is so real and so close that we do not have further time for gridlock or inaction. It's necessary that we take strong, aggressive action now.' The support from the trio of GOP senators means that at least half of the commission's 18 members, including lawmakers from both parties, plan to back the package when an official vote comes Friday. The group, chaired by former Clinton White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles and former Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., needs 14 votes to issue official recommendations. Crossing that threshold, however, remains unlikely. House Republicans Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Dave Camp of Michigan indicated Thursday that they would vote against the package, saying the recommendations fail to address rising health care costs and rely heavily on tax increases rather than restraints on spending. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, also has said he is inclined to vote against the package. In addition, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., another member of the panel, said Thursday he would vote against the plan because proposals such as cuts in pensions for military members and higher gas taxes 'hit rural America the hardest.' The commission's final plan recommends making sharp cuts to military spending and phasing in a higher retirement age. The package would raise taxes by nearly $1 trillion by 2020, primarily through moves that would eliminate or reduce long-standing credits, such as the home mortgage interest deduction. Meanwhile, the top income tax rate for both individuals and corporations would be dramatically lowered, from 35 percent to 29 percent or less. The report also recommends a legislative trigger that would raise taxes automatically unless a comprehensive overhaul is approved by 2013. The final package would balance the budget by 2035 and bring down the nation's debt to a manageable 41 percent of gross domestic product over the next 25 years. The co-chairmen resisted changes that would water down the far-reaching package. Simpson said this week that even if the package doesn't get the 14 votes necessary to prompt congressional consideration, the plan would succeed in changing the overall debate. 'Whether we get two votes or 18, this baby ain't goin' away,' he said. 'Oh, sure, it may be buried in an unmarked grave soon, but when the votes for the budget and to extend the debt limit and the debate on that comes up in the spring, this cadaver will rise from the crypt.' 