Since the beginning of the business cycle in 2001, family incomes in the United States have flattened. Yet the cost of living has skyrocketed.

Families are spending more than ever on basic necessities - food, shelter and clothing. The daily grind has become the daily debt count, and we can forget about keeping up with the Joneses, because keeping up with ourselves is a statistically proven struggle in this economy.

By the count of one economist, "... to afford ... necessities, families piled on record amounts of debt relative to their income - at a rate more than four times faster than that in the 1990s."

For quite some time, the president blindly insisted our economy was sound - crediting his trickle-down tax cuts for the wealthy - masking the misery that has befallen so many in the middle class with his administration's laissez-faire attitudes. His deregulatory approach led to predatory lending practices, which resulted in a meltdown of the markets and a downpouring of debt.

This past December, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rightly circled the wagons - inviting Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to gather 'round the proverbial campfire to iron out an agreement that would keep America's most needy families out of the red. Her action was the genesis of a bipartisan economic stimulus package.

As Democrats, our goal is to provide working Americans, who are struggling in these difficult economic times, with timely, targeted and temporary relief to quickly give our economy a shot in the arm.

Economists agree that any stimulus package must put money in the hands of those who will spend it quickly to stimulate the economy, without dangerously adding to existing structural debt. This stimulus package with broad-based benefits will:

* Provide tax relief this spring of up to $600 for an individual and up to $1,200 for a married couple, plus $300 per child - meaning a total of 117 million families will receive a check;

* Double the amount small businesses can write off on their taxes for new investments to get our economy moving again and provide immediate tax relief for all businesses to invest in new plants and equipment; and

* Institute mortgage-lending reforms that immediately help families facing foreclosure to refinance their loans and get the housing counseling they may need.

The House will move quickly to approve these stimulus initiatives. We hope the Senate will do the same.

And, as the New Direction Congress, we will continue working to cauterize the effects of this projected economic downturn by pressing for further relief in the form of job retraining programs, improved access to education, addressing child-care concerns, and improving upon food stamp allotments and extensions of unemployment benefits, so that the working family can focus on working toward a better and brighter future.

Developing this economic stimulus package required compromise. Congress and the White House put families first, and we put politics in its place - helping American families struggling to make ends meet in the slowing economy, in the face of rising prices for gas, home heating oil, groceries and health care.

nnn

John F. Tierney, D-Salem, represents the 6th Massachusetts District in the U.S. House of Representatives.