-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Sen. Barack Obama on Monday blamed lobbyists , special interests and `` an ethic of irresponsibility '' in Washington for the financial crisis that has swept the country in recent weeks . Sen. Barack Obama said Monday there needs to be more oversight in Washington . The senator from Illinois sided with congressional Democrats , who say a government bailout of the financial sector must include government oversight . `` We can not give a blank check to Washington with no oversight and accountability , when no oversight and accountability is what got us into this mess in the first place , '' Obama said . President Bush 's top economic advisers this weekend presented a $ 700 billion plan to Congress to take control of `` illiquid assets , '' including bad mortgages . Bush urged Congress to pass the plan as is , but Democrats on the Hill already are circulating a counterproposal . Sen. John McCain , Obama 's Republican rival for the presidency , said Monday that the government 's proposal puts too much power into the hands of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson . In a conference call Monday with reporters , McCain 's top campaign officials refused to say how the senator from Arizona would vote on the plan because it is not yet clear what the final version will contain . At a campaign event Monday in Green Bay , Wisconsin , Obama laid out the reforms he would pursue as president to avoid another economic crisis . Watch Obama talk about the crisis on Wall Street '' First , Obama said that he would reform `` our special interest-driven politics . '' He said members of his administration would not be able to use their position as a steppingstone for lobbyist careers . Watch what Obama says about McCain 's role in the situation '' Obama said he would make the government `` open and transparent '' and put any bill that ends up on his desk online for five days before he signs it . Secondly , Obama said he would `` eliminate the waste and the fraud and abuse in our government . '' He pointed to fixing the health care system and ending the war in Iraq as ways to cut costs . Obama also said that he and his running mate , Sen. Joe Biden , would crack down on excessive spending from both parties and close loopholes for big corporations . Obama said he would pursue `` updated , common-sense regulations '' in the financial market . Earlier Monday , McCain told voters he was `` greatly concerned '' about the government 's proposed rescue plan . `` Never before in the history of our nation has so much power and money been concentrated in the hands of one person , '' McCain said at a town hall meeting in Scranton , Pennsylvania . The Republican candidate said that while he admires and respects Paulson , `` this arrangement makes me deeply uncomfortable . '' McCain said a high-level oversight board should be created to shepherd the government 's proposed $ 700 billion bailout plan . McCain criticized Obama for not putting up a plan to address the financial situation . `` At a time of crisis , when leadership is needed , Sen. Obama has simply not provided it , '' he said . Watch what McCain says about Obama 's leadership '' Obama has said several times since the recent Wall Street crisis that , in meeting with top economists , he was encouraged to not roll out a specific plan for fear of overly politicizing the work of Congress on a government bailout of financial firms . He has , however , offered ideas for the plan -- including limiting pay for executives of businesses that are bailed out by the government and making sure the effort includes a specific plan for the money to be repaid . McCain on Monday proposed creating a bipartisan oversight board that would be able to `` impose accountability and establish concrete criteria for who gets help and who does n't . '' The Republican presidential candidate said the board should be made up of `` qualified citizens who have no agenda . '' He pointed to Warren Buffett , former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as potential board members . Buffett , chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway , supports Obama . Romney backs McCain , and Bloomberg is an independent . McCain also called for `` transparency and accountability '' on Wall Street and urged Congress to act quickly . The Bush administration 's proposal to bail out the financial system is the centerpiece of what would be the most sweeping economic intervention by the government since the Great Depression . The plan would allow the Treasury to buy up mortgage-related assets from American-based companies and foreign firms with a big exposure to these illiquid assets . The aim is for the government to buy the securities at a discount , hold onto them and then sell them for a profit . The government 's rescue plan follows a week of roller-coaster activity in the financial markets . In the lead-up to Bush 's proposal , the country saw the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers , a Bank of America buyout of Merrill Lynch and a government bailout of insurer American International Group Inc. . CNNMoney.com staff contributed to this report .