Obstructionist Dems trying to block because they think it is too good and will not be given the credit!” President Donald Trump tweeted. | Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images Trump: Democrats obstructing tax bill 'because they think it is too good'

President Donald Trump advanced a new theory Friday for why the Republican-backed tax bill has yet to garner any bipartisan support: The legislation is so good, Trump said Democrats believe, that they want to block it for fear that they won’t share in the credit should it pass.

“Republicans Senators are working hard to pass the biggest Tax Cuts in the history of our Country. The Bill is getting better and better,” Trump wrote online Friday morning. “This is a once in a generation chance. Obstructionist Dems trying to block because they think it is too good and will not be given the credit!”


Contrary to Trump’s suggestion on Twitter, Democrats have laid out a series of complaints about the bill, most notably that it is not the middle-class tax cut that the GOP claims but would cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans while increasing taxes on some middle-class Americans. The elimination of certain deductions, including the state and local tax deduction and the ability of teachers to deduct the cost of supplies purchased for the classroom, among others, has especially irked some lawmakers.

Democrats have also complained that the bill has been crafted without their input and without the hearings and regular order that would otherwise shepherd such a significant proposal through the legislative process, even as Republicans have publicly lamented that Democrats are unwilling to make that process bipartisan.

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The White House, too, has left the door open for some Democrats to get on board with a “yes” vote on the final bill, although none have thus far indicated that they intend to. But Trump himself has also blamed Democrats at times, suggesting that their unwillingness to work with Republicans is responsible for whatever deficiencies they see in the bill.

“If Democrats were not such obstructionists and understood the power of lower taxes, we would be able to get many of their ideas into Bill!” he wrote on Twitter last month.

