Chuck Schumer, Steve Israel meet with Barack Obama on budget

President Barack Obama has invited the Senate and House Democratic leaders and their message mavens, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Steve Israel, to the White House Tuesday afternoon to talk about his last budget proposal, a $4 trillion blueprint Republicans already say is DOA.

The inclusion of the two New Yorkers — who chair the policy and communications centers — underlines the reality that all presidential budget proposals are designed more as political statements than an actual realistic budget that the Congress will consider and pass.

In fact, the Republican chairmen of the Senate and House Budget committees, Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming and Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, refuse to even hold the traditional hearing to allow Obama budget director Shaun Donovan to outline the president’s proposal.

Attending the 3:35 p.m. White House meeting will be Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Schumer (D-N.Y.), Israel (D-Huntington), Vice President Joe Biden and Obama, according to the White House.

The meeting is closed and the four Democrats are not expected to meet with reporters afterward.