Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- John McCain called for limiting the pay for executives of companies bailed out by the government and said he's ``greatly concerned'' that the plan to rescue U.S. financial markets doesn't have independent oversight.

The Republican presidential candidate, who has supported giving shareholders a bigger say in executive compensation in the past, said today that taxpayers shouldn't foot the bill for ``golden parachutes'' for officers of companies that have crumbled in upheaval on Wall Street.

``The senior executives of any firm that is bailed out by Treasury should not be making more than the highest paid government official,'' McCain said at a campaign event in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

The president is the highest paid federal official, with a salary of $400,000 a year.

McCain's remarks align him with some congressional Democrats in urging modifications in a $700 billion plan put forward by President George W. Bush's administration to deal with a financial crisis that is being called the worst in the U.S. since the Great Depression.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama also plans to address the impact of the crisis on the economy during a campaign stop in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He plans to outline ways he would reduce the influence of lobbyists in government and give closer scrutiny to rules and tax subsidies that benefit businesses to eliminate ``corporate welfare.''

Campaign Flashpoint

The economy has become a flashpoint between the two candidates. Obama has criticized McCain for his past support for deregulation of markets and McCain hit Obama today for not offering a specific proposal to deal with the crisis.

Obama is leading McCain in Gallup Inc.'s daily tracking poll, 49 percent to 45 percent. The Illinois senator has held an edge in the poll since the start of last week, when the upheaval on Wall Street reached a crisis point.

The Arizona senator said he was troubled because the Bush rescue plan gives the Treasury secretary ``unprecedented power to spend $1 trillion -- trillion -- dollars without any meaningful accountability.''

``Never before in the history of our nation has so much power and money been concentrated in the hands of one person. This arrangement makes me deeply uncomfortable,'' McCain said. ``When we are talking about a trillion dollars of taxpayer money `trust me' just isn't good enough.''

Oversight

He wants to recruit financial experts for an independent, bipartisan board to oversee the bailout. He said those he has in mind for such a panel include billionaire investor Warren Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. who is supporting Obama, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP and a political independent, and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, an unsuccessful Republican presidential candidate and former chief executive officer of Bain Capital LLC.

Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Banking Committee, today proposed setting up a five-member oversight board to supervise the Treasury secretary's purchase and sale of distressed mortgage debt.

Dodd and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank also want limits on compensation of corporate executives who benefit from the program.

McCain predicted ``more tough economic news before the election'' and called on Congress to ``act quickly'' to adopt the rescue plan. He did not address whether his call for an oversight board would slow the congressional debate.

``My commitment to the American people is to fix the Wall Street mess, reform Washington, and most importantly, enact a pro-growth agenda to create jobs for Americans and get this country back on track,'' he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Edwin Chen in Scranton, Pennsylvania Echen32@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 22, 2008 12:55 EDT