Enter multiple symbols separated by commas  'Clever' Merkel
promises to shield Germans from rivals' taxes  Sean Gallup |
Getty Images News | Getty Images  Angela Merkel urged Germans on
Tuesday to re-elect her "clever" government, saying it would
shield their businesses and jobs from tax hikes by the center-
left.  The chancellor, whose bid for a third term on Sept. 22 is
a close contest despite her popularity, said Peer Steinbrueck
would ruin her progress on cutting unemployment and cementing
economic recovery if his Social Democrats (SPD) came to power.
"These are all successes of our citizens, employers and
entrepreneurs - but also the result of clever political
leadership," 59-year-old Merkel told the Bundestag lower house
of parliament in a debate on 'The Situation in Germany'.
Seizing on the SPD and Greens' economic ideas as a weapon for
the final stage of the campaign, she said higher taxes on top
incomes, wealth and inheritance would "put jobs at risk and
demotivate the Mittelstand", referring to the