TREASURY SECRETARY Timothy Geithner was in Germany the other day to talk about what we Americans must do. He says we have to stop spending so much money.

“Everyone is going to have to come to terms with the fact that we are going to save more in the United States,” Mr. Geithner said.

We’re trying, Tim.

Unfortunately, the worst economy in decades is draining the savings of many families. Taxes are going up. The cost of higher education is shooting up. Wealth creation is under attack from all sides, and while Americans lost staggering amounts of their life’s savings (through investments) in last year’s crash, government expenditures continue to grow at every level, as if money were no object.

Even so, many families are valiantly cutting back and doing without, and have in fact driven up the savings rate, recognizing that dark times loom ahead.

If Mr. Geithner wishes to admonish the most spendthrift of Americans, he should consider lecturing his friends in Washington. Their spending is beyond extravagant; it seems to be undermining the dollar and running up debts so massive that they might threaten Americans’ living standards for generations.

Yet Washington has shown little interest in backing away from this precipice. Politicians continue to act as if the middle class has endless supplies of cash to “contribute” to their causes.

This year, Democrats rammed through a $789 billion (plus interest) “stimulus bill” that seemed designed to reward the party’s supporters (and gave politicians in such states as Rhode Island a temporary reprieve from making painful budget reforms that would have irritated their political base).

Not surprisingly, the pork-stuffed bill has failed to stimulate the economy appreciably. Since its passage, millions of Americans have lost their jobs, and several other economic indicators remain dismal. And, just as predictably, Democrats are talking about passing a second “stimulus” bill. The definition of insanity . . .

Not content with that, they are pushing cap-and-trade legislation that might improve the environment but would, even by the most generous estimates, do little to lower global temperatures and add perhaps thousands of dollars a year to the average family’s energy bills, while stymieing job growth and injecting inflationary pressures throughout the economy. And Congress is working on a health-care bill that seeks to reform the entire system, rather than start off with such pressing areas as tort reform and encouraging true market competition to drive down insurance costs. However much we need comprehensive reform, the plans under consideration would cost an estimated $800 billion-plus through 2019 — and, remember, Medicare ended up costing vastly more than projected.

The spending already going on is staggering.

According to the federal Office for Management and Budget, Washington will spend $30,958 per household in this budget year, tax $17,576 per household, and borrow $13,392 per household. Under actions taken by both parties, in part to stave off a complete economic meltdown, the federal government will increase spending 22 percent this year.

And there’s no restraint in sight. Baby Boomer retirements will send Medicare and Social Security spending through the roof. There’s no money sitting around in the so-called “trust funds.” The government spends tax dollars as soon as it gets them.

The national debt, which was $5.8 trillion in 2008, is set to double by 2012 and nearly triple by 2019. Under President Obama, the government will amass more debt than it did under every president from George Washington to George W. Bush combined. And Mr. Bush, we should all remember, was no deficit hawk, having dumped onto our debt pile the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and a costly new Medicare drug entitlement.

As politicians of both parties well know, this is difficult stuff for voters to comprehend — or, perhaps, face. No office-seeker enjoys adding to voters’ stress by discussing it. It is much easier, and more rewarding, to issue press releases joyfully announcing more “free money” from Washington, a Land of Oz that promises to magically meet all your needs at no cost to you.

Voters don’t seem to grasp: It all comes from us. At what cost?

Even if taxes could be raised massively, severely impeding the middle-class’s ability to make ends meet, such hikes would surely choke off economic growth. And politicians are loath to give up the illusion that they are handing out free cash.

For now, the government is madly printing dollars, undermining their value all over the world and threatening inflation that will further deplete the wealth of Americans.

During most of our country’s history, political leaders recognized that it is immoral to inflict debt on their posterity. When they had to spend massively — to meet such crises as war — they made sure the government pulled back and paid off as soon as possible. Americans took this moral imperative very seriously.

Today’s Americans are cut from a different cloth. They seem only too happy to load up coming generations with crushing debt, for the noble reason that those too young to vote — indeed, those not even born yet — can’t possibly fight back.

Edward Achorn is The Journal’s deputy-editorial pages editor ( eachorn@projo.com).