McCain: Recession under way

WASHINGTON, April 14 (UPI) -- Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain said Monday the United States economy is in recession and there's "plenty of … blame to go around."

At a forum in Washington, McCain said Americans are worried about their jobs and their mortgages, and something must be done to help them, the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill reported.

"I think that there's plenty of that blame to go around, including very greedy people that happen to be in Wall Street today ... like the CEO (chief executive officer) of Bear Stearns, who decided the day before he was bailed out by the federal government to cash in millions of dollars worth of stock," McCain said.

McCain said he also blames President Bush and Congress, and called for Wall Street to be held more accountable.