Governor David Paterson got a lot of questions about why he cut certain programs in his budget and whether those programs might be restored. His answers generally went like this: "I didn't have a rationale. I cut it because I was trying to balance the budget."

So that's the quick summary of Paterson's remarks during his town hall meeting last night at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center. At times he used humor to offset tensions - a trademark of his.

"The manifestation of this deficit is so great that some of the measures we put in to fix it make no sense," Paterson said.

He told some speakers that he'd take another look at human services programs, like the youth bureau cuts or child care funding. But he held his ground on allowing grocery stores to sell wine, and reiterated his opposition to raising taxes on the wealthy - much to the chagrin of the Fair Share tax reform folks.

All of this seems like something of a negotiating tactic. Government leaders often introduce budgets that are intentionally stark, aimed, they say, at "holding the line." But often they serve as a starting point. It's an old trick: propose something awful so that the compromise is much more acceptable.

Now that Paterson and the Legislature leaders are discussing the budget, it will be interesting to see what sticks. And they've already lopped off a bunch of proposed special taxes, replacing them with stimulus money.