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Both CNN Money and Real Clear Markets featured a story this morning from Fortune Magazine’s William D. Cohan, titled, “The Man Who Cost Merrill Shareholders $50 Billion.” And perhaps no single story since the financial meltdown of 2008, better communicates the complete disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street than this one…

“The Man Who Cost Merrill Shareholders $50 Billion.”

http://money.cnn.com/2010/04/15/news/companies/merrill_lynch.fortune/index.htm

First, there’s the headline: “The Man Who Cost Merrill Shareholders $50 Billion,” which refers to Alberto Cribiore, an investment banking, opera aficionado, who also happened to be the Merrill board member who stopped CEO Stan O’Neal from selling a sinking Mother Merrill… mortally wounded in Stan O’Neal’s opinion, by a $45 billion dollar toxic CDO time bomb.

In 2007, O’Neal who was increasingly worried about Merrill’s toxic CDO’s, twice tried to finalize deals to offload Merrill Lynch, including a deal with Bank of America for $100 billion, only to be stymied each time by Cribiore

A year later, at the peak of the financial crisis, Merrill was finally offloaded to Bank of America for $50 billion, with the takeaway for Mr. Cohan of Fortune Magazine and those on Wall Street being…

“Alberto Cribiore cost Merrill shareholders $50 billion.”

Talk about not getting it…

Stan O’Neal and his Wall Street cohort’s unbridled greed, toxic derivatives, and Enron-style accounting, cost taxpayers $700 billion dollars in TARP bailouts alone, including $45 billion dollars that went to Merill’s buyer—Bank of America.

And what did Stan O’Neal receive in return for bankrupting a near 100 year old icon that had weathered two World Wars and the Great Depression? A golden parachute worth a reported $161 million dollars.

And what did America get?

– 39 million Americans on Food Stamps.

– 8 million foreclosures.

– A 17% real (U6) unemployment rate.

– A bill for $23.7 trillion dollars in bank bailouts, backstops, and guarantees.

– And a Fed Chairman now telling America that “modifications” need to be made to Social Security.

And Fortune Magazine’s William D. Cohan thinks “the story” is Merrill shareholders being short-changed out of $50 billion?

William D. Cohan thinks “the story” is Alberto Cribiore costing Merrill Lynch shareholders $50 billion, not Stan O’Neal and his fellow Wall Street Bankster-Gangsters costing America $23.7 trillion.

Talk about being completely out of touch with reality.

What planet are these people living on?

And what are they smoking?

This administration is now talking about converting private 401K’s and IRA retirement accounts into government annuities. And they’re strong-arming pension funds to prop up insolvent banks because the FDIC is broke. And now Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is talking about the need to make “modifications” (read: cuts) to Social Security.

If this isn’t final confirmation that those inside the beltway and on Wall Street still don’t get it, and never will—nothing is.

America, they don’t care that you line the steps of the Capitol in protest to them ignoring the will of the people. Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat’s “in your face” arm in arm march through the Tea Party crowd proved that.

Wall Street just looted the U.S. Treasury, and Congress long ago looted the Social Security lockbox, and now they’re trying to stick you with the bill.

Please tell me you’re not this stupid America.

Please tell me you won’t rollover on this.

Please tell me you’ll take your protest to a whole new level.

And please, do not let them get away with this.

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