A few dozen Republicans have joined a bipartisan call to breakthe impasse between President Barack Obama and House Speaker JohnBoehner over taxes for the highest-earning Americans.

The Republicans signed a letter calling for exploration of “alloptions” on taxes and entitlement programs, a signal that somerank-and-file members are ready to bargain.

One of the petition leaders, Representative Mike Simpson ofIdaho, says he could accept higher rates for married couplesearning more than $500,000 a year, in exchange for an overhaul ofspending on entitlements such as Medicare.

Separately, Representative Kay Granger of Texas is endorsingOklahoma Republican Tom Cole's call to extend all tax cuts formiddle-class earners as “just the right thing to do.”

What unifies these lawmakers is a recognition that Obama'sre-election has strengthened his hand in negotiations aimed ataverting more than $600 billion in automatic tax increases andspending cuts set to take effect in January. The letter'sapproximately 80 signers are half-Republican, half-Democratic,according to Simpson spokeswoman Nikki Watts.

“It's pretty obvious Obama won the election, and he promised hewas going to raise taxes on the wealthiest,” Simpson said in aninterview. “What Republicans said is, 'We've got to haveentitlement reform.'”

While it may be an unpalatable trade for both sides, he said,“There's enough sane people left to get it done.”

A trade-off of higher taxes for entitlement spending cuts wouldrequire Boehner to convince more than 100 of his majority party tojoin House Democrats in approving a deal.

Representative Steve LaTourette of Ohio says Boehner could getthe 218 votes needed to send a tax increase to the Democratic-runSenate if about 120 House Democrats “buy in” to entitlement cuts,such as raising the eligibility age for Medicare or adjusting theannual Social Security cost-of-living adjustment.

“You could get enough Republicans to bring it over the line,” hesaid.

The sentiments of LaTourette, Simpson and allies suggest a patharound the primary obstacle to a deal. It includes Obama'sinsistence on raising tax rates for couples earning more than$250,000 a year with Boehner's approach of curbing taxdeductions.

Obama, in a Dec. 4 interview with Bloomberg Television, said he is“flexible,” so long as tax rates are increased.

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