Call it Sen. Chuck Schumer unplugged.

Unaware that reporters were listening in, Schumer put his foot in his mouth this morning during a conference call — instructing other Democratic senators to call Republicans “extreme” when it comes to proposing budget cuts.

Moments before the start of the call, Schumer — not aware that many of the reporters were already on the line — went into spin doctor mode, instructing his fellow senators on how to talk to the media about the federal budget.

“I always use the word extreme,” Schumer told Sens. Barbara Boxer, Benjamin Cardin, Thomas Carper and Richard Blumenthal. “That is what the caucus instructed me to use this week.”

Boxer (D-Calif.), Cardin (D-Maryland), Carper (D-Del.) and Blumenthal (D-Conn.) listened as Schumer told them to paint House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) as someone who had been backed into a corner by the Tea Party.

About a minute into Schumer’s instructions, he apparently became aware that reporters were on the line.

What ensued were a few moments of silence.

Once the call began in earnest seconds later, the Democratic lawmakers were on message.

“We are urging Mr. Boehner to abandon the extreme right wing,” said Boxer.

This as Capitol Hill rhetoric reached new levels of ugliness as negotiations over some semblance of a federal budget gave way to finger-pointing, with Democrats blaming Tea Party freshmen for a potential government shutdown and Republicans calling those claims a fantasy.

Over the past few days, Democrats have pounded the argument that Congress would have been able to work out a budget deal long ago if not for the extreme demands of Tea Party-aligned lawmakers.

Congress has until April 8, the expiration date for the current short-term budget, to craft either another stopgap or a more substantive budget that lasts through the end of fiscal 2011, or face a partial Washington shutdown.

Hopes were relatively high last week that such a coming-together could happen, but lawmakers on both sides made clear Tuesday they’ve made scant progress.

With Fox News