ABC News' Kristina Wong reports: This Sunday, White House advisers and lawmakers previewed a big week ahead for President Obama, who will attempt to take the lead on health care reform, and regain momentum after a summer marked by heated, partisan and confusing debate.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and senior White House adviser David Axelrod sounded confident ahead of Obama?s big speech to Congress this Wednesday evening, to be televised live to the nation. In the speech, they said, Americans would hear exactly Obama stands on health care reform.

?They'll leave that speech knowing exactly where the president stands, exactly what he thinks we have to do to get health care reform done this year,? Gibbs said on ABC News? ?This Week.?

The president has an opportunity on Wednesday to speak to the nation and the Congress on this,? said Axelrod on NBC?s ?Meet the Press.? ?We've been through a long debate now.All the ideas are on the table.It's time to bring the strands together and get the job done for the American people here.?

Liberals, Conservatives Unwilling to Back Down Over Public Option

So far, consensus has been difficult to achieve, with lawmakers divided on multiple party and intraparty fault lines over the best way to lower private insurance costs, and how to pay for health care reform in light of an economic recession and a skyrocketing budget deficit.

The president is stuck in the middle, between Senate Republicans that could block much of what the President wants, and liberal supporters who want it all. Republicans reject the president?s idea to create a the public option ? a government-run insurance exchange intended to compete with and lower the costs of private insurance. House democrats overwhelmingly favor the idea. Progressive democrats say they will not pass a bill without it.

?We support what the president has said all along he'd like to see, and that is a robust public option. He campaigned on it. He continues to talk about his support for it. And we're going to stand behind him. Nancy Pelosi has said that nothing is going to pass that floor without a public option,? said Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., on ABC.

Howard Dean,former Democratic National Party chair said compromise on the public option is unacceptable.

?If, for whatever reason, he chooses to go in a different direction [than the public option], then I'd scale back the bill. I wouldn't spend 5 cents on it,? Dean said on Fox. ?I'm very hopeful that he will stick to his guns and that we'll have the reform we were promised in the campaign.?

Despite the White House toning down insistence on the public option in recent weeks, Gibbs said the president would continue to support a public option in his speech Wednesday.

?He will talk about the public option and why he believes and continues to believe that it is a valuable component of providing choice and competition, it helps individuals and small businesses, at the same time provides a check on insurance companies so they don't dominate the market,? Gibbs said.

Critics Says Public Option Alternatives Won?t Work

Lawmakers have floated compromise alternatives to the public-option, such as an insurance co-op ? a group of private insurers that would be set up by the government, but controlled by its members. But Gov. Tim Pawlenty, republican governor from Minnesota and oft-speculated 2012 presidential candidate, said a co-op was not a viable solution.

?To say that that is the solution, I think, defies what we know about the experience with co-ops already.It hasn't substantially altered the trajectory of health care costs,? Pawlenty said on CNN?s ?State of the Union.?

Another alternative to the public option, recommended by a bipartisan group of former lawmakers including former republican Sen. Bob Dole, is the idea of a public-option trigger that would give private insurers time to reform the industry and lower costs, but trigger the public-option if they failed to do so by a deadline.

Sen. Ben Nelson, R-Neb., said he supported the idea.

?If there's going to be a public option, it has to be subject to a trigger, Nelson said on CNN. ?In other words, if somehow the private market doesn't respond the way that it's supposed to, then it would trigger a public option or a government-run option, but only as a fail-safe backstop to the process.?

However, Dean rejected the notion of postponing the public-option.

?The problem is it won't work. It doesn't add anything. If you're going to do that, just do the insurance reform,” Dean said on FOX. “Don't pretend you're doing reform.?

And Pawlenty rejected the idea of any type of public-option, now or in the future.

?The trigger option simply kicks the can down the road,? Pawlenty said. ?All it does is delays the inevitable, and for a lot of reasons, it's a bad idea. I think, if the Democrats embrace the public option, even in the form of the trigger, they're going to shoot themselves in the foot.”

Republicans Warn Against Using the Reconciliation Process

Despite these battles awaiting Congress when it returns from recess Monday, the president is determined toachieve health care reform this year,fueling speculation that with a large Democratic majority in the House, and a Democratic majority in the Senate, democrat lawmakers would resort to the budget reconciliation process, by which a bill could pass the House and Senate on an up-or-down vote, avoid a Senate filibuster, and require only a simple majority of 51 senators in order to pass.

Former democratic senate majority leader Tom Daschle said Congress should not rule out invoking the reconciliation process.

?If we can't do it any other way, we shouldn't be bound by this process. I think both parties have used it. We used it to pass a single most important health bill ever in the last 20 years, the Children's Health Insurance Plan. We used reconciliation to do that,? Daschle said on ABC.

?The Republicans tried to use it to pass the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge,? Daschle continued. ?And they've used it for every tax cut so far. There's no question both Republicans and Democrats have used it in the past.?

But Sen. Alexander warned democrats of the consequences.

?One, it would create a bad health care bill because under the provisions in the rules, the parliamentarian would write the bill, so all the senators would be voting on are tax increases or Medicare cuts, and you wouldn't get to put in the bill things like pre-existing conditions or buying insurance across party lines.So it would be a bad bill,? said Alexander.

?Second, it would be thumbing your nose at the American people who have been trying to say to Washington for the last several months, ?Slow down.I mean, too many Washington takeovers, too much debt. You're meddling with my health care,?? Alexander sad. ?So thumbing their nose at the American people by ramming through a partisan bill would be the same thing as going to war without asking Congress' permission.You might technically be able to do it, but you'd pay a terrible price in the next election.”

Failed Health Care Reform Could Hurt Democrats

Some analysts are predicting democrats could lose up to 25 seats in the House if health care reform fails.

?Democrats are on a dangerous slide. And when we see this kind of sea change in public option take place, it should be a flashing warning sign,? David Wasserman, House editor of the Cook Political Report, said in an interview with ABC.

Indeed, since the beginning of the president?s push for health care reform, his popularity has dipped according to the daily Gallup polls, from a high of 68 percent early this year, to 50 percent last week.

Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political report, said health care reform was now critical for the president?s credibility.

?If he is perceived to fail on health care, it is going to raise significant questions about leadership, his leadership and really when you get down to it, that?s what the presidency is about,? Rothenberg said in an interview with ABC.

Still, democrats remain hopeful the president can recapture a largely-runaway debate over health care reform, and improve his standings by taking a strong lead over health care reform.

?I think he's got to stand up and lead and be strong,? said Dean. ?What people value more in a president than anything else is strength, and that's what we've got to see on this week.?

ABC News? David Kerley contributed to this report.

By TEDDY DAVIS

Progress over perfection.

That?s how Paul Begala frames the choice facing Democrats.

In an op-ed in today?s Washington Post, the former Clinton strategist implores his fellow progressives not to make a government insurance option a litmus test for health-care reform.

Begala wants Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and other members of the Senate Finance Committee, to have “a little breathing room” as they work to produce a health-care bill that can garner enough votes to pass the Senate.

?The question is not whether I or other progressives will support a health-reform bill that includes everything we want but, rather, whether we will support a bill that doesn?t,? writes Begala.

Begala says he carries a ?heavy burden of regret? for his role in setting the bar too high the last time the U.S. tried fundamental health reform.

?I was one of the people who advised President Bill Clinton to wave his pen at Congress in 1994 and declare: ?If you send me legislation that does not guarantee every American private health insurance that can never be taken away, you will force me to take this pen, veto the legislation, and we?ll come right back here and start all over again.?

Begala is not the only high-profile Democrat who appears willing to jettison a public option to get a bill through Congress and onto President Obama?s desk.

Dick Durbin, the Senate?s No. 2 Democrat, signaled that he would not let the public option bring down health-care reform while appearing Sunday on CNN's “State of the Union.”

While Begala wants Democrats to give the Senate Finance Committee breathing room to come up with a compromise, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., tells today?s New York Times that the president has assured House members that he did not intend to let the Senate Finance Committee determine the final bill.

?This is going to be a genuine conference with give and take,? Mr. Waxman said. He added: ?The president has said he wants a public option to keep everybody honest. He hasn?t said he wants a co-op as a public option.?

While some progressives are trying to lay the groundwork for a compromise, others are stepping up their case that a public option is essential to real health-care reform.

Health Care for America Now, a liberal group which supports a public option, announced Thursday morning that it is expanding its advertising in a handful of states.

The ad targets two Democratic senators — New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D) and Delaware Sen. Tom Carper (D) — in addition to three House members: Pennsylvania Rep. Jason Altmire (D), South Dakota Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, and Virginia Rep. Rick Boucher (D).

The group?s ad will also run in upstate New York.

Watch the ads HERE.

White House tries to “go viral” on health care:
?Feeling victimized by misinformation spread virally through the Internet, the White House Thursday is launching its own ?viral e-mail? for supporters to spread,? reports ABC?s Jake Tapper.

?The e-mail outlines 24 points — eight ways the Democrats' health care reform measures will, in Axelrod's view, ?provide security and stability to those with or without coverage,? eight ?common myths? about reform, and eight reasons why reform is an urgent matter.?

The e-mail also features a Web video from White House health care reform czar Nancy-Ann DeParle in which she refutes an opposition viral e-mail sent to one of her White House colleagues from his father, a physician.

PhRMA-Backed Coalition Makes Big Ad Buy
President Obama?s new ?what?s in it for me? message is picking up significant amplification today from a coalition supporting health-care reform.

Americans for Stable Quality Care, a coalition largely funded by the pharmaceutical industry, is launching a $12 million television ad campaign during the congressional recess supporting President Obama on health care.

Coalition members include PhRMA, FamiliesUSA, the Federation of American Hospitals, and the Service Employees International Union, according to an SEIU spokesperson.

?What does health insurance reform mean for you?? asks the ad?s narrator. ?It means you can?t be denied coverage for a pre-existing condition, or dropped if you get sick. It means putting health-care decisions in the hands of you and your doctor. It means lower costs, a cap on out-of-pocket expenses, tough new rules to cut waste and red tape, and a focus on preventing illness before it strikes. So what does health insurance reform really mean? Quality, affordable care you can count on.?

Watch the ad HERE.

As of last week, Obama allies were outspending Obama opponents two-to-one in the health-care ad wars, according to Evan Tracey of the Campaign Media Analysis Group.

California: Gay-Marriage Advocates Disagree on Date for Ballot Measure
For several months, gay-marriage advocates in California have been trying to decide whether to pursue a ballot measure in 2010 or 2012.

On Wednesday, one of the Golden State?s largest gay-rights groups, Equality California, went public with its conclusion, saying it was targeting 2012.

Some headlines treat the announcement by Equality California as resolving the 2010 vs. 2012 issue.

It doesn?t.

The announcement from Equality California came an hour after the liberal Courage Campaign said results of an early fund-raising push had emboldened it to push ahead with plans to oppose Proposition 8 next year. Here?s more from the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Christian Science Monitor.

Cheney v. Bush
As his memoir takes shape, Dick Cheney?s disappointment with George W. Bush is beginning to surface, according to a front-page Washington Post story by Barton Gellman.

??In the second term, he felt Bush was moving away from him,? said a participant in the recent gathering, describing Cheney's reply. ?He said Bush was shackled by the public reaction and the criticism he took. Bush was more malleable to that. The implication was that Bush had gone soft on him, or rather Bush had hardened against Cheney's advice. He'd showed an independence that Cheney didn't see coming. It was clear that Cheney's doctrine was cast-iron strength at all times — never apologize, never explain — and Bush moved toward the conciliatory.??

Obama?s Thursday
President Obama has no public events today.

In the morning, the President will receive the Presidential Daily Briefing, the Economic Daily Briefing, and meet with senior advisors in the Oval Office.

The Kicker:

?I?m always nervous, and I tell them to be nice to each other. And they?re not always nice.? –Joyce L. Woodhouse explaining that she can barely stand to watch her sons (Brad Woodhouse of the DNC and Dallas Woodhouse of the conservative organization Americans for Prosperity) debate one another The Woodhouse brothers appeared Wednesday on ABC's “Top Line.”

Watch them HERE.

For up-to-the-minute political updates check out The Note?s blog . . . all day every day:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/

“Top Line” — No Reward for Obama’s “Legislative Panic”: CEO of FreedomWorks says Congress should Start Over on Healthcare Reform.

ABC News’ Kim Berryman reports: President Obama’s hopes for a health care bill before the August recess are long gone and with the help of skeptics and concerned constituents, the administration’s sprint towards a bill this fall is now slowing to an uphill jog. This afternoon Matt Kibbe, president and CEO of FreedomWorks, a group “leading the fight for lower taxes, less government, and more freedom” said that hope for passing reform in 2009, is lost.

The White House used “an all or nothing strategy and I think they’re going to step out of this with nothing…I think enough Americans have raised opposition that the moderate democrats and the moderate republicans that they need to pass this reform are going to back away from this process and we’re going to start over and hopefully we do it right the second time” Kibbe predicted on ABC News’ “Top Line.”

As the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats push their political chips towards the center of the table on health care reform, it seems hard to imagine anyone settling for a do-over at this point in the game.

However, Kibbe insists that “passing a big reboot of the health care system is not something that the American public is eager to see right now.”

Instead of passing overall reform in a process of what he calls “legislative panic,” Kibbe suggests an incremental approach with bipartisan support and applauded the health insurance reforms put forth by Senator Jim Demint of South Carolina.

In the months of lobbying, committee meetings and White House phone calls, “the one group that [President Obama] cut out of the conversation was the public. They have an interest in this debate and they watched how the President passed the stimulus package and … the bank bailout last fall. They’re tired of these secretive, rushed legislative efforts,” Kibbe said.

The Obama administration has often voiced its desire to be more open with the public than the administrations that preceded it. Yet, with health care, the topic of transparency is a sore one. Just this summer, the Los AngelesTimes reported the White house’s reluctance to disclose a list of visitors coming by the famous mansion to discuss reform.

Obama himself is answering questions at town hall meetings in rapid succession this week. These meetings follow months of media coverage allowing him to explain the specific changes he had in mind. In ABC’s own Prescription for America special this June the president tried to make his plans clear to the American people. Despite these attempts, misunderstandings and disagreements among Americans have distracted the White House and congressional leaders from their selling points.

Just this week, Sen. ChuckGrassley, R-Iowa,a proponent of a bipartisan bill, addressed untruths about death panelsduring a town hall meeting.Meanwhile, the White House has launched a Reality Check website among other tools to address the more common concerns people have about health care.

“If you get an e-mail from somebody that says, for example, ‘Obamacare is creating a death panel,’ forward us the e-mail and we will answer the question that’s raised” President Obama said in a town hall meeting on Tuesday.

The hurdle health care will have to clear is the dread that many Americans like Kibbe associate with “the idea of government forcing anybody to buy insurance, particularly when they mandate what insurance that is.”

To see more of what Matt Kibbe told Top Line, click HERE.

Lizzie O’Leary, co-author of today’s eye-opening report from Bloomberg News,also stopped by the studio today to discuss her findings. The exclusive report by O’Leary and Jonathan D. Salant show that there are no fewer than six health care lobbyists for every member of the House and Senate.

To hear more about O’Leary’s report click HERE.

McCain: “Scrap” Health Care Bill And Start Over

ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports:

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, called on President Obama and Democrats in Congress to “scrap the current [healthcare] bill and start over.”

McCain pointed to a nonpartisan cost estimate of $1 trillion over ten years for the major portion of healthcare reform suggested in a bill floated by Sen. Edward Kennedy's Health Committee and said the cost was too high for American taxpayers, especially since the nonpartisan review foresaw $23 million would lose their current insurance plans under the proposal.

“How we going to pay for that, Mr. President.,” asked McCain on the senate floor. “How are we going to pay for that?”

The cost estimate for the Kennedy committee bill was prepared by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which is also preparing a separate cost estimate for a different healthcare reform proposal being prepared by the Senate Finance Committee.

“The CBO letter should be a wakeup call for all of us to scrap the current bill and start over,” said McCain. “Start over in a true bipartisan fashion,” said McCain, although his idea for healthcare reform would not find much support among Democrats.

McCain also addressed Jake Tapper's report that stiff cost estimate – which McCain thinks is low-ball – has the White House distancing itself from Kennedy's health committee plan.

“Well where is the administration's bill?” asked a frustrated McCain. “We're supposed to be enacting legislation before the end of July. Where is the administration's bill?”

McCain called for giving all Americans a $5,000 tax credit to purchase insurance on the open market. And he suggested lifting bans intended to protect some state health insurance quality requirements that keep people in one state from buying health insurance sponsored in other states.

CBO's $1 trillion estimate for the health committee plan does not include the implementation of a public health insurance option that seems likely to be a part of Democrats' ultimate healthcare plan. Most of the Republican opposition to the healthcare reform proposed by Democrats has centered around that public plan.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has given daily speeches on the Senate floor blasting the public option for weeks.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin gave a spirited defense of creating a public insurance option to go alongside private plans operating in the marketplace. He and other Democrats have been trying out a new line of argument – that Republicans, in attacking the creation of a public health care option are endorsing the status quo.

“So if we do nothing,” Durbin said. “If we ignore this reality, we are doomed to face a situation where more and more of the dollars that we earn as employees will go toward health care protection and health care insurance and the protection there was diminish each year because that's the other reality. as the cost of health insurance goes up each year, the coverage goes down. people know what I'm talking about. when the health insurance company say, oh, we've got a great plan for you, but incidentally, you remember that cancer test you had last year? we won't cover anything related to cancer in the future.”

Reid causes stir over Kennedy’s health

ABC News’ Z. Byron Wolf reports:

At his weekly press conference today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was asked about Sen. Kennedy’s condition and a minor stir ensued.

Here’s the transcript of what Reid said:

QUESTION: The latest on Senator Kennedy’s health?

REID: Yes, I had a conversation with Mrs. Kennedy in the last couple of days. He’s doing fine. He’s going through another regimen of treatment which he is not unusual. This is something that was expected. He wanted to have the treatment next week. They had to move it up a week, as I understand it.

QUESTION: His cancer is in remission as far as you know?

REID: As far as I know it is, yes.

It was a loud room and Reid may have misunderstood the question. But the exchange was taken by some outletsas a declaration that Kennedy’s condition has improved.

Kennedy’s office, as a matter of policy, does not comment on his treatment or daily condition. But its unclear that there has been any change to warrant the label “remission” being applied to his brain cancer.

UPDATE: FROM SENATOR REID’S PRESS OFFICE: “Senator Reid will leave the diagnosing to doctors. But he does look forward to the prospect of Senator Kennedy’s return to the Senate as soon as he is able.”

–Z. Byron Wolf

Clinton Tears Up Over Deceased Diplomat

ABC News’ Kirit Radia reports: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had a rare emotional moment this morning, fighting back tears as she spoke about a young diplomat killed in Ethiopia earlier this year during his first tour abroad.

“Brian Adkins was a smart, talented, and generous young man, everything that his country looks for in a foreign service officer. Wherever he went, he made an impression and he made a difference,” Clinton said of the 25 year old, her voice cracking and her eyes welling up.

Today Clinton added Adkins’ name and those of two other diplomats who died abroad to a wall honoring diplomats killed in service. Before her remarks, Secretary Clinton met with the Adkins family who attended the unveiling ceremony.

Brian’s father, Dan, told ABC News today his son was “a very giving caring ambitious person.”

“He loved his country, he loved his job, he loved his family,” his father said.

Brian Adkins spoke several languages fluently and worked to put himself through college. He graduated from George Washington University’s Elliot School of International Affairs in 2007.

“His favorite part of his job was knowing that anywhere in the world that he wanted to go his ticket was learn their language,” Dan Adkins said.

Dodd Under Fire Over AIG Bonuses

AIG’s big bonuses have Congress in a fury. Senate Banking Committee Chair Chris Dodd admitted his staff agreed to water down executive pay provisions, essentially preserving the loophole that allowed the bonuses to go forward. But, the Democratic senator of Connecticut is pushing back hard, placing the blame on the Obama administration, saying that it is the Treasury Department that insisted on the inserting the loophole. Dodd also added that at the time he supported the action, he was not aware of any pre-existing AIG bonuses.

The longtime senator, first elected to Congress in 1974, has consistently been one of the safest, most popular Democratic incumbents, but currently he’s in trouble not only because of the AIG mess, but also in the polls. Two recent polls found Dodd trailing a theoretical challenger in his state.

ABC News’ Senior congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl weighs in with the facts on Thursday’s edition of Politics Live.

Republican Senators Divided Over Governors Rejecting Stimulus Money

ABC News’ Z. Byron Wolf reports: Stimulus funds have only just started to filter out to the states, and already several Republican senators have said they don’t want all the money due to them in the $787 billion bill meant to kick-start the sputtering economy.

While it raises legal questions, the actions by governors in South Carolina and, according to more recent reports, Texas, largely fit into the broader Republican talking point that the new Obama administration is spending too much money in its effort to save the economy.

But not all Republicans agree. At a news conference with other Republicans announcing a GOP oversight initiative of the stimulus program, Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, who opposed the stimulus and is a former chairman of the National Governors Association, said governors who are rejecting the stimulus money now should have spoken up while the stimulus was being drafted.

“My attitude is that governors should have gotten their act together and they didn’t,” he said. “The Republicans and Democrats – [Sen.] Lamar [Alexander, R-Tenn.] — I think you were chairman of the National Governors Association too. When we were chairman, I tried to get them in a room and say look, ‘Republicans, Democrats, let’s get a common thing, let’s go to the Hill and let’s do it.’ And what happened was they spoke with different voices. And now, they’re going to have to live with the program.”

This was a bit off-message for Republicans, who have been trying to make the point that Democrats, now that they’re in power, are spending too much money. The two senators joining Voinovich at the news conference, where Voinovich and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., were introduced as the two senators who will be in charge of overseeing Republican oversight of the stimulus, immediately tried to dial back the criticism.

“I think the governors have a legitimate concern here,” Alexander said. “[S.C.] Gov. [Mark] Sanford is a Republican, but Tennessee’s governor, a Democrat, raised an issue about whether we should accept the unemployment insurance money because it might require our state to raise taxes on employers, therefore driving jobs out of the state. That’s a legitimate concern.”

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen has since said he will accept all the stimulus money, approximately $4.5 billion.

Alexander was asked if the governors have the ability, constitutionally, to turn down the money.

“I don’t know the answer to that,” he said. “But it’s a very wise question by a governor because, in Tennessee, we kept our debt low because if we we don’t have to pay interest on the debt we can build schools and roads and parks. … And what Gov. Sanford, I am sure, is saying is that if I can use that money for the long-term, I will have more money every year to spend on schools and roads and parks.”

Thune said his governor has also considered turning down stimulus money that requires state matching funds and increased eligibility for programs receiving federal dollars.

“Once you’ve expanded the eligibility, I guess is what I’m saying, it will be difficult to tell people they are no longer eligible for this,” he said. “And so I think some of these governors have got some very legitimate questions about these funds and how they might be used. And if they’re going to be forced into expanding eligibility to qualify for them and create long-term budgetary problems down the road for their states, then some of them are exercising their prerogative not to accept them and I think that is probably a fair thing for them to do.”

Gregg Expects to Vote ‘No’ on Stimulus,Downplays Concerns Over Census

ABC News’ Teddy Davis reports:

<img src=”http://plsdontcallme.info/wp3/wp-content/uploads/gregg-expects-to-vote-no-on-stimulusbrdownplays-concerns-over-census-1.jpg&#8221; alt=”Gregg Expects to Vote No on Stimulus,
Downplays Concerns Over Census” title=”Gregg Expects to Vote No on Stimulus,
Downplays Concerns Over Census” />

 

Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., withdrew from consideration for Commerce Secretary at a Feb. 12, 2009, press conference on Capitol Hill.
Ferdous Al-Faruque/ ABC News 

Barack Obama’s erstwhile pick to run the Commerce Department said Friday he expects to vote against the president?s stimulus package when it comes to a vote in the United States Senate.

“I presume I will be, yes,” Gregg told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” when asked if he would be voting against the stimulus. “I haven’t made a final statement on that, but that’s philosophically where I probably am.”

Gregg discussed his inclination to vote against the president’s stimulus plan one day after announcing that he was withdrawing his name from consideration to be United States Secretary of Commerce.

In a written statement released Thursday, Gregg identified the stimulus and the census as two “irresolvable conflicts” with the Obama administration. But when Gregg was specifically asked at a Thursday press conference how he would vote on the stimulus, he deflected, saying, “Well, can I save that for tomorrow when we vote on the stimulus bill?”

Back on Feb. 4, Gregg said that he would not be voting on the stimulus bill, or any other legislation, while he was under consideration for Commerce Secretary.

In Friday’s CNBC interview, Gregg critiqued the stimulus by saying that a “tactical error” was made in allowing “the appropriators” to write it. He said this made it “unfocused” and “disjointed” although he also said that the stimulus has gotten better as it has gone forward.

Asked how the stimulus could be re-worked in order to win his support, Gregg said: “They don’t need to rework it now. They got their votes.”

When asked if White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel was going to try to “hijack” the census for partisan purposes, Gregg said: “That’s a good question. We’ll have to see what happens. The way it was explained to me was that it was — the census would still report to the Commerce Secretary, but the White House wanted to have a major interest in the census process also.”

Asked if he felt comfortable with that, Gregg said, “I actually hadn?t concluded as to how that was going to play out, to be honest with you. I thought that when I got there, I could probably straighten that out if it was a problem.”

He then added that he was “a little surprised, in fact, disappointed, that some of the groups basically prejudged” his ability to manage the Commerce Department before he even got there.

When Obama first nominated Gregg to head the Commerce Department, the Congressional Black Caucus and an organization representing Hispanic elected officials publicly raised questions about whether Gregg could be trusted not to undercount minorities.

In his CNBC interview, Gregg voiced confidence in Ken Pruitt, the person whom the White House has proposed to manage the census. Gregg worked with Pruitt in 2000 when the New Hampshire senator chaired a congressional committee with oversight over the Commerce Department.

“I thought he did an excellent job,” said Gregg. “I think the people in place will do a good census, and we?ll have to wait and see.”

Update: Gregg: ‘Stimulus Measure Falls Short’

At 5:49 pm ET, Gregg released an official statement, “Stimulus Measure Falls Short,” explaining why he decided to vote against the stimulus bill on Friday evening.

See below for the full text of Gregg’s written statement:

“Our country is facing one of the greatest economic challenges of our lifetime, and I believe sizable action is needed to help our economy begin moving forward again. Today, the American people are worried about their jobs, home values, retirement savings, and Main Street businesses, and we need an economic plan that brings immediate relief, creates jobs, and strengthens American production to get our nation back on course.”

“However, I am concerned that this so-called stimulus bill falls short of what is needed. What was initially advertised as a well-intended effort to boost economic growth has become sidetracked by misplaced spending and lack of attention to the true problems facing the nation, especially housing. Massive amounts of money will be spent years after this bill is signed into law, thereby undermining claims that it is stimulative. Also, the bill?s tax relief provisions will not adequately spur investment and business activity, which are critical for job creation and economic growth.”

“This bill, therefore, is not timely, targeted, and temporary, which is what a stimulus bill should be. And with a deteriorating budget situation, we cannot afford a proposal that will saddle future generations with massive amounts of debt with little to show for it in return.”

ABC News’ Z. Byron Wolf and Ferdous Al-Faruque contributed to this report.