text: Obama falsely claimed that the stimulus package was needed to prevent "irreversible decline," but the Congressional Budget Office admitted that it would actually shrink the economy "in the long run." Unemployment has skyrocketed past European levels, as big-spending countries have fared worse than thrifty ones. As the Examiner notes, "If his stimulus program was approved, Obama promised, unemployment would not go above 8 percent . . . The reality is that it passed 10.3 percent." In 2008, Obama promised a "net spending cut," but as soon as he was elected, he proposed massive spending increases.