Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan said this afternoon that contrary to claims that Obamacare will reduce the deficit, it will actually increase the deficit by roughly $700 billion.

Ryan said this afternoon at the National Press Club that the only reason a Congressional Budget Office letter claims the national health care law will reduce the deficit–i.e. bring in more revenue through tax hikes and Medicare cuts than it spends on Obamacare–is because “the books have been severely cooked”–not by the CBO  but by the Democrats who wrote the bill.