COEUR d'ALENE - The nation's debt crisis can be turned around by controlling government spending and by increasing federal revenue with tax reform rather than increasing taxes, says Sen. Mike Crapo.

Crapo spoke to nearly 100 people who attended a town hall-style meeting Thursday on the North Idaho College campus.

Crapo detailed the deficit reduction plan rolled out last summer by himself and other members of the so-called Gang of Six, a bipartisan group of senators that emerged from President Barack Obama's deficit commission.

"I believe every American would have had tremendous tax relief out of this proposal," Crapo said.

The proposal, circulated in Washington, D.C., during the debt ceiling debate, failed to garner enough support to go before Congress.

The plan would have lowered all income tax brackets and the corporate tax rate, Crapo said. It would have reduced many deductions, credits and exemptions in the tax code while reducing many taxes.

The plan placed caps on discretionary spending and put entitlement reforms in place, he said.

"Although in my opinion, not enough. We didn't do enough on the entitlement side," he said.

Crapo said the proposal would have reduced the national deficit by $4.7 trillion over the next decade, and it would have reduced the nation's current debt-to-GDP ratio which is currently 95 percent.

"No economy yet, in the last 200 years at least, has been able to sustain a 90 percent debt-to-GDP ratio without the economy resetting itself, which would be a traumatic, cataclysmic economic impact in the United States," Crapo said. "It would, in my opinion, jeopardize the American dream."

Crapo said that puts perspective on what the nation faces if the debt crisis is not resolved.

"So we put this out. Every single special interest group, from the right wing to the left wing, attacked us because we were changing the status quo," he said.

He told the group that he is committed to continue fighting for the types of fiscal policies the Gang of Six plan called for to rebuild the nation's economy.

When Crapo fielded questions from the audience, Robbie Giles, of Moscow, made a plea for "tax fairness" and for an end to Bush-era tax cuts.

She said oil companies receive better tax benefits than most small businesses in the nation.

"Remember, most of us are paycheck people. We're not trust fund babies," Giles said.

Crapo said that while he did not completely agree with Giles, he does not think taxes should be raised.

Several audience members complained about the Environmental Protection Agency, blaming the EPA for being too aggressive and for moving too slowly at other times.

In addition to tax code reform, Crapo said he sees a need for regulatory reform, litigation reform and energy policy reform, all things that affect the United States' ability to be competitive.

"Right now the economic climate in the United states is being choked by government regulations and by improper tax policy," Crapo said. "We do need to grow our fiscal spending and bring companies back to the U.S."