RESTAURANTS FEAR LOST JOBS FROM NEW BUDGET

President Clinton's plan to lower the tax deduction of business meals from 80 percent to 50 percent is included in the Senate Finance Committee's budget recommendations, despite numerous restaurant industry meetings with senators and thousands of phone calls and letters to Capitol Hill.

"Real people will be hurt by this change," says Stephen E. Elmont, president of the National Restaurant Association in Washington. "This will hurt the waiters, waitresses, dishwashers, and fry cooks who will pay for this policy change with their jobs."