Dutch voters decide on economy immigration
Job Cohen
A softer approach promoted by left-leaning parties including former Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen's Labor Party is very unlikely to win a majority  though Labor is running second in polls and has made a late surge.
 Cohen wants to preserve government social programs  raise taxes and make it easier for immigrants to integrate rather than punishing those that fail.
 In a final televised debate Tuesday night  Rutte mocked one of Cohen's signature lines -- that it is the primary duty of an executive to "hold things together."
 Cohen won praise for his handling of a tense period in Amsterdam after the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a Muslim fanatic in 2004.
 "The difference between you and me  Mr. Cohen  is that I don't want to hold things together. I want to get things going " Rutte said.
 Cohen shot back that Rutte's plans -- including raising the retirement age  increasing health care costs and banning welfare for any immigrant for 10 years after arrival -- were equivalent to electroshock therapy.
 "You know what happens when you give an electric shock: there are great risks of crippling" the economy  Cohen said.
A softer approach promoted by left-leaning parties including former Amsterdam Mayor [TGT] Labor Party is very unlikely to win a majority  though Labor is running second in polls and has made a late surge.
 [TGT] wants to preserve government social programs  raise taxes and make it easier for immigrants to integrate rather than punishing those that fail.
 In a final televised debate Tuesday night  Rutte mocked one of [TGT]'s signature lines -- that it is the primary duty of an executive to "hold things together."
 [TGT] won praise for [TGT] handling of a tense period in Amsterdam after the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a Muslim fanatic in 2004.
 "The difference between you and me  Mr. Cohen  is that I don't want to hold things together. I want to get things going " Rutte said.
 [TGT] shot back that Rutte's plans -- including raising the retirement age  increasing health care costs and banning welfare for any immigrant for 10 years after arrival -- were equivalent to electroshock therapy.
 "You know what happens when you give an electric shock: there are great risks of crippling" the economy  [TGT] said.