Is Gov. Paterson doing the right thing?

Governor Paterson is pushing deep budget cuts, which are already trickling down to state agencies, local governments, hospitals and school districts across New York.

Alice Hyde in Malone has put major projects on hold; the city of Plattsburgh is planning lay-offs; state prisons are threatened with closure; a hiring-freeze has already cost the region dozens, if not hundreds, of jobs.

In any other climate, these moves would look like sound conservative fiscal policy. But in a recession this deep, most economists think governments should spend big to stimulate a private-sector recovery.

In the late ’20s and early ’30s, Franklin Roosevelt — then the Governor of New York state — tested many of the policies that would later coalesce as the New Deal.

That included spending big on infrastructure projects, including the St. Lawrence Seaway. (And, yes, it also included huge budget deficits.)

So far, the nation’s governors aren’t following Roosevelt’s model. Just the opposite.

In a column last week, New York Times scribe Paul Krugman accused them of being “50 Herbert Hoovers.”

But even as Washington tries to rescue the economy, the nation will be reeling from the actions of 50 Herbert Hoovers — state governors who are slashing spending in a time of recession, often at the expense both of their most vulnerable constituents and of the nation’s economic future.

More troubling is the fact that governors around the country are asking for a big chunk of the Federal stimulus money — as much as a trillion dollars.

Not to create new projects, but to forward-fund existing state programs. That kind of spending won’t kick-start anything.

What alternative does Governor Paterson have? He can’t borrow the same way the Fed can; nor can he print buckets of money.

The only remaining alternative? Taxes.

We’ll see if Governor Paterson wrestles with any of these ideas on Wednesday, when he takes to the airwaves with his State of the State address.

The question he needs to answer is pretty simple: How do deep cuts in state spending help lead to a revival of New York’s wider economy?