IRS Employees Make Line Dancing Video On Taxpayers' Dime

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Following the infamous IRS Star Trek video scandal, yet another IRS video has surfaced in the wake of Congressional investigations into the agency's spending practices and discrimination against conservative political organizations.

The video was made public by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) who will hold a hearing on June 6, entitled “Collected and Wasted: The IRS Spending Culture and Conference Abuses.”  The hearing will focus on the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report on excessive IRS conference spending and abuses of taxpayer dollars. 

In one example of expensive spending alleged by the Committee, the IRS spent $4 million dollars on a manager’s conference for 2,600 people in Anaheim, Calif. in August, 2010.  The Committee contends that, contrary to established government contracting practices, the outside event planners did not negotiate lower room rates and instead focused on “perks” for IRS employees.  Several IRS employees stayed in presidential suites, which rate at $1,500-$3,500 per night.  Also, 15 outside speakers were paid $135,000 – including one speaker who lectured on “leadership through art” for $17,000.

The previously unreleased video below, referred to as the “cupid shuffle,” featured employees learning the popular line dance as part of preparation for the Anaheim management conference.

During the video, one unidentified IRS employee says that, "They don't pay me enough to do this.  I'm not an executive, I just play one on TV."  While another employee says, "And I thought doing the Star Trek video was humiliating."

Photo/Video Credit: YouTube