Think the president has it tough on the economy? Try talking to a governor.

Since this story is about politics, let’s begin with an opinion poll. Of the following, who would you say has a harder fiscal job, given our economic dilemma? (We’ve redacted the names to prevent bias.)

Politician A is inheriting a budget deficit that is at least $400 billion, but that number will probably be several hundred billion dollars larger after the economic crisis ends. There is no imperative, though, to balance that budget in any way, assuming the legislature approves the budget. All of the hard balancing work can be passed on to a successor.

Politician B is faced with a $15.4 billion deficit that the law requires to be bridged. Otherwise, a new budget cannot be passed, and the government will have to shut down. Politician B’s austerity budget, though, must be approved by a state legislature, which has its own ideas. None of the hard balancing work can be passed on to a successor.

Politician A, quite obviously, is our dear leader, President-elect Obama. Politician B is Democratic New York Gov. David Paterson. And no offense to Obama, but his fiscal duties pale in comparison with Paterson’s. Because governors and presidents are forced to play by two different sets of rules, their means and their ends are often opposed. That dynamic could make Obama’s economic job even harder once he takes office.

Forty-one states are expecting a budget gap this year or next, and all but one is required by law to balance the budget. (Vermont is the only holdout, but the state almost always does it anyway.) Severe spending cuts are expected across the country, but in some states, that won’t be enough.

That’s why Paterson and New York make a useful example. To get to the magic number of $15.4 billion, Paterson cut spending by $9 billion. But that’s as far as he was willing to take the spending cuts; anything more would be too deep a slice into public services. So, to come up with the extra $6.4 billion, Paterson turned to a liberal’s best friend—taxes.