By JEANNE SHAHEEN

ACCORDING to leading economists, our economy is nearing recession. Over the past week, we've seen the federal government take extraordinary steps to help the financial markets, from a significant interest rate cut to a high-profile bank bailout. But, while Washington is acting to help Wall Street, it needs to do more to help Main Street.

Middle-class families are struggling. Rising energy, food and housing costs are making it more and more difficult for families in New Hampshire to make ends meet. The housing crisis is particularly troubling.

While the vast majority of homeowners are not in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure, the crash in home prices and the associated loss of wealth for middle-class families is extremely alarming. This loss of wealth will make it much harder for families to afford college or save for retirement. I've laid out a plan to address the housing crisis, available on my Web site (www.jeanneshaheen.org), but we need to do more to help middle-class families.

While there is little doubt that the housing crisis has made matters worse, the crisis facing middle-class families has been years in the making and has its roots in the failed economic policies of the Bush administration. For the past seven years, wages have remained stagnant while the cost of everything from a gallon of gas to a gallon of milk has skyrocketed.

But, as New Hampshire families fell further and further behind, Washington offered more of the same. More tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, more tax subsidies for oil and gas companies (while they make record profits), more no-bid contracts for Halliburton, and more debt and deficits. All the while, middle-class taxpayers were asked to foot the bill.

Washington has betrayed the middle class. We need new leadership in Washington to take our country in a new direction. In the U.S. Senate, I'll fight to restore the middle class and make the economy work for New Hampshire families again by:

• Expanding tax cuts for the middle class, paid for by rolling back tax cuts for the wealthy -- those making more than $250,000 a year.
• Increasing Pell Grants and expanding tuition tax credits to help families pay for college.
• Extending energy tax credits to assist the transition to clean energy and reduce heating costs for small businesses and homeowners, and to help create new jobs in the emerging clean energy economy.
• Reducing health care costs by increasing access to preventive care, moving to electronic medical records, and allowing re-importation of safe, affordable drugs from Canada.
• Tackling our nation's record debt and deficits by ending the war in Iraq and returning to pay-go budgeting.

In February, I applauded Congress for passing an economic stimulus package that included cash rebates to help families struggling in our faltering economy. Those rebates will arrive in May and should help boost our economy with increased consumer spending. But, by definition, economic stimulus packages are short-term shots in the arm for an ailing economy.

In the longer term, we need a new direction in Washington and new leaders who understand that the middle class is the backbone of our economy.