Rome burns and the IRS is spending wads of cash making useless Star Trek Parodies for training or something. Not to mention it’s terrible:
Of course they apologize now after it’s become public:
FOX NEWS – While taxpayers may be getting used to seeing federal agencies fritter away their money, there’s something ironic about the IRS doing it.
The tax-collecting agency is under fire over a training video from a 2010 conference that parodied “Star Trek” — and cost tens of thousands of dollars to make.
The IRS now says the video was a mistake and wouldn’t be made today. But Republicans were steamed as they portrayed the tape as yet another example of the government wasting tax dollars at a time of trillion-dollar deficits.
“There is nothing more infuriating to a taxpayer than to find out the government is using their hard-earned dollars in a way that is frivolous,” Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La., said. “The IRS admitted as much when it disclosed that it no longer produces such videos.”
The agency says the six-minute video, along with a training video that parodied the TV show “Gilligan’s Island,” cost about $60,000. The “Star Trek” video accounted for most of the money, the agency said.
The video features an elaborate set depicting the control room, or bridge, of the spaceship featured in the hit TV show. IRS workers portray the characters, including one who plays Mr. Spock, complete with fake hair and pointed ears.
The production value is high even though the acting is what one might expect from a bunch of tax collectors. In the video, the spaceship is approaching the planet “Notax,” where alien identity theft appears to be a problem.
It was shown at the opening of a 2010 training and leadership conference but does not appear to have any training value.
“The IRS recognizes and takes seriously our obligation to be good stewards of government resources and taxpayer dollars,” the agency said in a statement. “There is no mistaking that this video did not reflect the best stewardship of resources.”
The agency said it has tightened controls over the use of its production equipment to “ensure that all IRS videos are handled in a judicious manner that makes wise use of taxpayer funds while ensuring a tone and theme appropriate for the nation’s tax system.”