New York - Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama on Thursday warned of the high stakes for the US economy of a proposed 700-billion-dollar government bailout plan for financial firms.

Republican McCain on Thursday warned the US Congress that a misstep on the financial crisis could make things much worse than they already are, and repeated his call for a bipartisan solution.

"For the Congress, this is one of those moments in history when poor decisions, made in haste, could turn a crisis into a far- reaching disaster," McCain said in a speech to the Clinton Global Initiative, a development foundation set up by former president Bill Clinton.

McCain said the speech would mark his last campaign event until legislation to resolve the financial turmoil is hammered out in Congress.

On Wednesday McCain said he would suspend his campaign and come back to Washington, where a bill allowing the government to buy up some 700 billion dollars worth of damaged mortgage-related assets was put forward by the White House. McCain also proposed delaying the first debate between the rivals that is set for Friday. It remained unclear whether it would take place.

Obama, a Democrat, rejected the call to stop campaigning, but will be in Washington Thursday for an emergency meeting of congressional leaders with President George W Bush.

"Let me be clear: it's outrageous that we find ourselves in a position where taxpayers must bear the burden for the greed and irresponsibility of Wall Street and Washington. But we also know that a failure to act would have grave consequences for the jobs, and savings, and retirement of the American people," Obama told Clinton's foundation via satellite.

He reiterated his call for an independent board to oversee the move, for taxpayers to be considered investors in the companies, for struggling homeowners to be included in any bailout and for compensation for chief executives not to be part of the plan.

McCain said his priorities would be making sure the massive rescue plan includes more accountability, oversight and protection for taxpayers.

On development, McCain said that combatting climate change would be one of the priorities of his presidency. He called for greater efforts to fight disease around the world and raise populations out of poverty, something he argued was also key to US national security policy.

Obama said as president he would work for a global cap and trade programme to curb greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming and said he would devote more money to fighting disease, especially malaria in Africa.