“My accountant called me and said ‘you’re going to get killed in this bill,’” President Trump reportedly told a group of Senate Democrats this week as he lobbied them to support his administration’s tax “reform” proposal.

It would be nice if we could test that claim – the president’s record for truthfulness isn’t all that great, frankly – but to do that we need to review his tax returns.

So today, Common Cause is calling on Congress to delay any vote on the president’s tax plan until the president releases his tax returns.

Lawmakers and the American people need to know how much the president and his far-flung business empire have to gain from this so-called reform. Most analysts who’ve reviewed the proposal agree that the plan would put a larger tax burden on working- and middle-class Americans and fatten the bank accounts of the wealthiest. President Trump certainly falls into the latter category, of course.

Common Cause and lots of other folks tried last year to persuade candidate Trump to release his returns. We thought he should follow the example set by every presidential candidate since the 1970s and give voters a full picture of his finances. We still think so.

But Trump said no. For months, he told voters he’d release his returns once the IRS completed a routine audit of his far-flung holdings. Then, after his election, he declared that his returns were no one else’s business and would never be made public.

The president’s stand betrays an arrogance unworthy of his office and a disrespect for the people he serves. He and his family are profiting handsomely off his office; during a speech to South Korean legislators on Tuesday, the president even put in a plug for one of his golf resorts.

So Mr. President, how badly do you want this tax plan? It’s past time to come clean with Americans on your finances and what you’ll gain if Congress passes your bill.

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