Someone in the world of editorial columns recently predicted that a “bailout backlash” would begin in the year 2010.

Could we arrange for that backlash to get started a little sooner - - like, now?

It’s understandable if Americans aren’t paying attention to the machinations of government at the moment. Most of us just wrapped-up a somewhat anxious holiday season, and gladly said goodbye to a difficult 2008.

But the new Congress launches this week, and the new President takes office in less than three weeks. And if you’ve been angered by the ways the current President and Congress have tossed around your tax dollars, consider what might be ahead.

First, here’s a quick review. The so-called “bailouts” of banking and financial institutions last fall are old news now, and whether or not Treasury Secretary Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke “saved the world” from a far worse economic collapse is debatable. But to the extent that one can actually follow how Paulson has disbursed our $700 billion, one thing is clear: he has not allocated the revenues in the ways he stated that he needed to - - by buying up “troubled assets” (bad loans) from lenders - - when he was pressuring Congress to pass the bailout legislation.

Then came the Automotive industry’s turn to beg for financial aid, and they almost got it from the Congress. But the Republican minority in the Senate held-out for some modest measures of accountability, in exchange for the cash, demanding that the United Autoworkers Union adjust assembly line wages so as to make them more compatible with those of the successful foreign car companies with manufacturing operations here in the U.S. Continued...