You are kidding, right? GOP candidates have been asserting that the recession has never ended in the rural counties of Western WA, especially on the Olympic Peninsula. If you want to go back in history, who was running the show when the recession hit? However, I don't just blame the GOP for the debacle, as Democrats had their hand in the down-turn as well. So what is John Alger's plan to make the state's tax system less regressive and to provide the services that are necessary for a state that is going to work for all its citizens in the 21st century. Mr. Alger's responses, "I don't know" and his promise not to raise taxes to pay for the additional education spending required by the McCleary decision, but to take dollars "from somewhere else" doesn't inspire confidence. He has no plan.