“Who would have thought, after years and years, even decades, in which the Republican right attacked ‘Old Europe’ that they would embrace the economic policies of the eurozone — austerity and unemployment now at all costs,” former President Clinton joked at a fundraiser for President Obama’s re-election campaign Monday night. It would have been a good line — if only it were true. Yes, unemployment in Europe is high. Yes, that high unemployment is largely due to “austerity” policies brought about by Europe’s crushing debt burden. But Clinton is dead wrong when he compares European austerity to Republican policies.

As Clinton and Obama know full well, Republicans are unlikely to sign off on a debt reduction plan that raises taxes. But that is exactly what most European countries have done. Greece (unemployment rate 21.7 percent) hiked its value-added tax by 77 percent. Spain (unemployment 24.3 percent) raised its investment tax by 44 percent, and Portugal (unemployment 15.2 percent) raised income taxes on the rich and the value-added tax on everybody.