Spoiler Alert: Economy Edition

So I was watching the movie "Moneyball" last weekend, and there was a great quote that really got me thinking.

If you haven't seen it, the movie is about the Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's attempt to put together a baseball club by analyzing players' stats with a computer and drafting or cutting them accordingly. This new method proved to be just as effective, yet significantly cheaper to manage.

Beane's method was considered so far out there and so against everything that was baseball at the time, that everyone believed he was destined to fail. No one would take him seriously. However, when his unconventional methods prove effective, the MLB community lashes out because they feel threatened.

One of the characters is talking to Beane about the situation, and gives him a small, yet significant, piece of insight on why his method is causing such a fuss.

"Really what it's threatening is their livelihood, their jobs. It's threatening the way they do things...and every time that happens, whether it's the government, a way of doing business, whatever, the people who are holding the reins - they have their hands on the switch - they go...crazy."

We can find great truth in these words. When you look at it on local level, in the case of baseball, we can understand why the owners and managing staff of the teams would be throwing a fit over a change in the game.

If you apply this concept to a global level, in countries like Libya or Syria, their dictators are trying (or at least tried, in Gaddafi's case) to keep a hold of their power, because after all, their power is what defines them. Their power is what keeps them wealthy, keeps them safe, and keeps them in the top tier of society. They will do anything to keep their safety net intact.

Now, if you bring this concept closer to home in the U.S., it is a little more difficult to see. But when you dig deeper into the depths of our governmental structure, it becomes much clearer.

The main problem our country is facing is the failing economy. Our excessive governmental spending and unbelievable amount of national debt is causing our economy to crumble. Our currency is no longer sound, inflation is going through the roof and our job market is shrinking. All of it is stemming from our government's addiction to spending.

To put our governmental spending in perspective, if you remove eight zeros from our national budget, and look at it as if it were a household budget, our annual income would be around $21,000 but our credit card debt would be an insane $142,000.

This is a huge problem.

The way I see it, our Congress keeps approving these unbalanced budgets because they are a form of job security. As long as our economy is in shambles, many people will continue to look to our government to fix it. This allows our government to continue spending and keep up the facade that they are actually helping, when in fact it is this very idea that is destroying our country.

Within the unbalanced budgets are provisions for excessive congressional pay. Members of Congress are accepting huge pensions while the rest of our country is suffering from an ailing economy.

Because our representatives refuse to acknowledge their spending is the source the problem, obviously they won't even think about making significant budget cuts, especially when their own pay is in jeopardy.

If we are ever going to see true change, we must rethink who we are electing to office in Congress.

But even the slightest threat to their power will send them into a rage. Career politicians will fight tooth and nail to keep their security within reach.

So, much like Billy Beane's take on baseball, sometimes more spending isn't always better. Smart spending and efficient resource management is the key to restoring America's prosperity.

We have to start somewhere. My challenge to you is to rethink the way our government is spending our tax dollars. After all, on our household budgets, we have to live within our means. So why shouldn't we hold our government to the same standards?

Like I said, we must start somewhere. We must break the wall and change our mindset on how we spend our money.

"I know you are taking it in the teeth, but the first guy through the wall... he always gets bloody... always. This is threatening not just a way of doing business... but in their minds, it's threatening the game." - "Moneyball"

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