
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 7, 1995                   TAG: 9504070075
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

MURDOCH, SELF-EMPLOYED GET TAX BREAKS

Rejecting pleas from Democrats, President Clinton said Thursday that he will sign a bill that combines health insurance tax deductions for self-employed Americans with a huge tax break for media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

``Because of the important benefits of this legislation to our nation's self-employed and their families, I could not justify a veto,'' the president said in a statement.

The bill allows an estimated 3.2 million self-employed people to deduct 25 percent of their health insurance premiums from their 1994 taxes. The deduction, which had expired, would rise permanently to 30 percent next year.

More than 100 House Democrats had signed a letter urging Clinton to veto the bill to eliminate the Murdoch benefit, worth an estimated $63 million.

Clinton acknowledged that ``this bill carves out a special exception for one pending deal. This is the kind of dealing that goes on all the time in Washington.''

He was referring to a provision that would eliminate tax breaks for companies that sold broadcast and cable TV stations to minority buyers, but retain the benefit for a single deal involving Murdoch.

Murdoch has a contract to sell Atlanta station WATL-TV for $150 million to Qwest Inc., which is 55 percent owned by minorities, including Quincy Jones, Geraldo Rivera and former pro football star Willie Davis, and 45 percent owned by the Tribune Co.

The exception was inserted by Democratic Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois, who said she was trying to help a group of Illinois investors.

Clinton said the Murdoch deal was one reason ``why we need a line-item veto that covers both spending and special tax provisions. When I get it, I can assure you I will use it to weed out special-interest loopholes like the one in this bill.''

Murdoch was involved in a controversy earlier this year when his publishing house, HarperCollins, signed a two-book deal with House Speaker Newt Gingrich for a $4.5 million advance. Under intense criticism, Gingrich subsequently abandoned all but $1 of the advance.

Gingrich, R-Ga., said he opposed the special provision for Murdoch, blaming Moseley-Braun for sponsoring it.

by CNB