Governor David Paterson took a lot of heat for his plan to tax things like movies, soft drinks and music downloads – now he’s abandoning part of it. One reason, Paterson now says the federal stimulus package will help him pick up the slack.

The controversial tax on sugared soda, reinstating the sales tax on clothing under $110, taxes on things like cable and satellite TV and everything from haircuts to ski-lift tickets; these are some of the unpopular tax proposals that Governor Paterson is now abandoning, replacing them in the budget with federal stimulus money.

“We raised taxes and fees on New York residents and those residents let us know that they were quite vociferous about that,” the Governor said.

Paterson warns that this is just a fraction of New York’s projected $14 billion deficit, and that the federal stimulus money only lasts for two years. He also insists that the federal money will not be used for spending that will produce deficits in future budgets.

The Governor’s town hall meeting tour around the state a few months back may have been enough to convince him that the proposed taxes were politically unwise.

“You talk about democratic government being responsive to the people and [Paterson] has now responded in hopes that the people will be satisfied and hope that his poll ratings go up,” Barbara Bartoletti, of the New York State League of Women Voters, told NEWS10.

The taxes nixed Wednesday were among the more high-profile and much-criticized ones. Despite their elimination, however, 119 new taxes and fees are still intact in the Governor’s budget; adding up to about $2.8 billion.

With his approval rating at a record low, Paterson says he never really wanted the taxes in the first place.

“Nobody wants to add problems to the citizens of New York,” the Governor said.

Assembly Democrats are taking credit for the change. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said Wednesday, “I am glad we stood our ground,”

Silver then quickly credited the Governor.

“There were difficult decisions at the time that the Governor had to deal with the budget,” Silver said.

Conservatives say the state should use the federal cash to eliminate the rest of $2.8 billion in higher taxes.

“There were basically saying that they only plan to deal with one-third of the new taxes and fees that the Governor has proposed,” said E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center for Public Policy.

Liberals say this clears the deck for the so-called “millionaires’ tax” Assembly democrats want.

“There is no way out of this without a real effort at fair tax reform,” said Alliance for Quality Education member Billy Easton.

The Governor, however, still says “no” to raising taxes on the rich.

“At least my plan is not to tax the rich, however, I get the feeling that is not always shared,” Paterson quipped.

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