State-specific financial incentives and other political sweeteners should not be included in the final version of health care reform legislation, White House political adviser David Axelrod said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

“The president does believe that these state-only carveouts should not be in the bill,” Axelrod said. “The principle should be: Do these provisions apply to everyone?”

President Barack Obama and Democratic Congressional leaders continue to take fire for enticing wavering lawmakers like Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) with federal handouts for their states in exchange for “yes” votes on a health care bill.

“In the case of Nebraska, what everyone was outraged about was that it seemed to be a special deal just for one state – that’s not going to be in this bill,” Axelrod said.

Axelrod and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs made a sweep of the Sunday shows to discuss the next — and perhaps conclusive — steps in the health care debate.