Gov. David Paterson, who authored a Times OpEd entitled “Borrowing Our Way to Failure” less than two months ago, essentially panning the proposal of his own hand-picked LG in the process, today said he’s open to borrowing – as long as it’s a “last resort” used to close down budget talks.

“If borrowing become a closer, we certainly would consider it,” Paterson told reporters following a closed-door leaders meeting to which GOP leaders were not invited.

“But I just try to stay away from the b-word. I just do not want to use the b word at any point until we have made the realistic cuts.”

Paterson insisted he never really ruled out borrowing altogether, but was upset by the fact that borrowing “became the focus of the discussion that I think delayed the whole budget process by a month.”

(He rejected the suggstion that this was a snub to LG Richard Ravitch, who was the architect of the $6 billion borrowing plan, saying: “He threw out on the table what would be a limit on borrowing, but I think that just the way it all went, it’s no one’s fault, it just became an acceptance that there would be borrowing.”)

The governor said he feels perhaps more responsible for leaving the state in better fiscal shape than he found it now that he’s not running this fall, insisting he doesn’t want to saddle whoever is next in his shoes with the same mess he found when he ascended to his current post.

“I think it would be irresponsible to borrow your way out of a crisis, ride off into the sunset like you’ve done something when all you’ve done is subjected the next generation to what you had to live with,” Paterson said.

Paterson said his private meeting with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson went well. (There will be a public five-way leaders meeting at 11 a.m. tomorrow).

The governor says the two sides are still falling about $1.5 billion short of his proposed cuts and some $22 billion separates all three sides from a budget deal.

“They tell me they’re moving very rapidly right now to close down the tables of negotiation,” Paterson said. “If that’s right then we’re surely headed in a positive direction.”

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