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deficit while protecting key programs.
• Varilek said Noem's refusal to raise taxes on millionaires shows she "favors the wealthiest individuals and corporations above all else."
• Noem said Varilek's plan would tax many small business owners into laying off employees.

• "That's devastating for us and our way of life," Noem said.
• On Medicare, Varilek wants to preserve traditional health plan for retired people while curbing costs through efficiencies. Noem supports preserving existing Medicare for those 55 and older, while giving younger people the option of keeping traditional Medicare or getting private insurance subsidized by the government.
• Meanwhile, Varilek has questioned Noem's effectiveness because she failed to get the farm bill through the House. Noem countered that she did everything she could to get the bill passed before Congress recessed for the election, but a vote had to be delayed because it would have failed.

• Noem said Congress cut spending in the past two years and she helped gain House passage of disaster programs for livestock producers, got additional money to help fight the infestation of mountain pine beetles destroying trees in the Black Hills and helped block cuts to Ellsworth Air Force Base in western South Dakota.
• "We've got some small successes, but our work is not done," Noem said.
• Varilek said Congress is in a stalemate on key issues because Republicans have refused to compromise.
• "I believe we need members of Congress willing to work together to find common ground," he said.
•

• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Eighteen people have been arrested on prostitution-related charges in South Dakota's Minnehaha County.
• State's Attorney Aaron McGowan says 16 are accused of hiring or trying to hire someone for sex, and two others face sex trafficking allegations.
• The arrests announced Wednesday in Sioux Falls stemmed from investigations by numerous local, state and federal agencies.
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• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Despite rain and strong winds last week, farmers and ranchers in South Dakota had five days for fieldwork and brought the harvest

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