Earlier this year, Rep. Paul Ryan (R) presented a fiscal roadmap for Republicans that he claimed would cut the deficit in half by 2020. At his request, the CBO analyzed a version of the plan and agreed that the version they were asked to analyze would indeed cut the deficit in half by 2020. What Ryan (and Republicans in general) don’t say is that the plan the CBO was asked to analyze was only half of Ryan’s roadmap — the half that comprised his spending cuts. When you include the other half — his tax cuts — the deficit in 2020 is as large as ever. See this and this. Republicans are not serious about deficit reduction — they just want us to think they are.
Edit:Â Also see this.