But Isn't It a White Elephant?

It's the definition of White Elephant--it has value to one, but may have little to no value to another.

I'd wonder what a building with miles of marble, a rotunda, and ornate meetings rooms could otherwise be used for, but I can see someone wanting it anyway.  Yes, I'm talking about the Statehouse.

Dayton Daily News statehouse reporter Bill Hershey wrote a piece Sunday that, indeed, the Statehouse might be among the items for sale as a one-time fix to what ails our state government when stimulus dollars from Uncle Sam run out in 2011. 

His piece was sparked by an analysis circulated on the looming "$8 billion" deficit in Ohio's next biennial budget and written by the Ohio Public Expenditure Council. 

Someone had shared that OPEC piece with me last week.  It predicts a scary mix of health and education cuts, state workforce cuts, and, yes, tax increases awaits us in Fiscal Year 2012.  A budget "fix" that contains just one of these elements won't be enough to make even a dent.

It's unavoidable. 

No economic recovery can be so swift to make up for $8 billion.  In fact, OPEC predicts a budget correction bill will likely be needed this Summer to rescue the current budget.

So, you may want to get your offer in now.  The Statehouse might be yours for. . .