Cupid Shuffle: IRS Under Fire for Another Taxpayer-Funded Video

This three minute video of IRS workers practicing their cool dance moves at the end of a 2010 training and leadership conference, cost taxpayers about $1,600 and was released in response to a request by Rep. Charles Boustany,
R-La, who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee.

 

There are two other IRS videos with agency workers starring in  “Star Trek” and “Gilligan’s Island” TV shows. These light hearted parodies were done at a time when nearly 90 agency employees (at last count) were engaged in the targeting and harassment of nearly 500 conservative groups.

“The outrage toward the IRS is only growing stronger,” said Boustany. “Clearly this is
an agency where abuse and waste is the norm and not the exception.”

CBS reported:

At a time when most government agencies are coping with across-the-board spending cuts by furloughing workers and finding other savings, that conference has become the target of a report a Treasury inspector general plans to release next week.

The report, called “Collected and Wasted: The IRS Spending Culture and Conference Abuses,” will be the subject of a hearing Thursday by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, that panel said Friday.

The IRS is also under fire by lawmakers and the Obama administration for targeting conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status for tough scrutiny between 2010 and 2012. That screening, revealed May 10, has led President Barack Obama to replace the agency’s acting chief, and two other top officials have also stepped aside.

One official who hasn’t stepped aside is Exempt Organization Specialist Stephen Seok, who signed many of the intimidating letters sent to conservative nonprofits. According to WXIX-TV/Fox 19 in Cincinnati, he’s  been promoted to  “supervisor IRS agent.” 

The IRS sounded contrite about the videos, saying in a written statement, they are an  “unacceptable and an inappropriate use of government funds.”

 I would add, “outrageous.”