Chances of a budget deal seem to be slipping ever more into the realm of impossibility with each passing day, leaving even veteran lawmakers like Assembly Majority Leader Ron Canestrari questioning if an agreement will ever be reached.

I asked Canestrari flat-out last night: Are we going to get a budget? His reply was not encouraging.

“I don’t know. Liz, this is also discouraging and feeds in to the anti-government sentiment that’s out there. We’re not helping it. I don’t believe we should draw a line in the sand on any issue, because we must get a budget that’s balanced and get out and get this thing resolved…So I hope we get one soon, but it won’t happen this week.”

Canestrari suggested that the negotiations would be a lot easier if Gov. David Paterson wasn’t so weak, but he also acknowledged the Assembly Democrats’ traditional stalling tactic is not a good approach this year.

“I sometimes wonder if he really wants a budget unless he gets exactly what he wants, and none of us will get exactly what we want in this budget because the news will be bad no matter what,” the assemblyman said. “But if the governor were stronger, it would help.”

Remember that on Monday, LG Dick Ravitch insisted to me that the governor was doing everything in his power to get an on-time budget and shot down the suggestion that dragging out the talks behooves the lame duck executive because he’ll be all-but powerless once a deal is reached.

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