McCain says views on regulation 'clear'

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain says he's "very clear" on regulation and the U.S. government's role in bailing out private corporations.

"The role of government is fundamentally to help American people when they are in situations that are not of their making," McCain said Monday on NBC's "Today" show. "So certainly I believe in regulation."

McCain has spoken out against the bailout for insurance giant AIG and mortgage financiers Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. and Federal National Mortgage Association.

"I proposed a plan to help our economy. But we've got to have an oversight board. We've got to have a group of Americans ... to (oversee) this over $1 trillion, apparently, that we're going to have to spend to fix America's economy," he said.

The Arizona senator said he would not raise taxes "in a time of a hurting economy because it will hurt, obviously, our ability to recover from this."

McCain, asked what he thought caused the financial crisis, blamed Washington corruption and Wall Street greed. He vowed to crack down on chief executives' golden parachutes.

He also was asked how his opinion reconciles with his having as an economic adviser Carly Fiorina, who was let go as Hewlett-Packard's chief executive officer. Fiorina was fired in 2005 yet received a severance package of $21-45 million.

"I don't know the details of her compensation package, but she's one of many advisers that I have," McCain said.