Lawmakers once again had the Internal Revenue Service in their crosshairs as the tax collecting agency was questioned by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about the $50 million spent on conferences between 2010 and 2012.
One conference in particular was the object of scorn from lawmakers. A conference held in Anaheim in 2010 cost over $4 million. Inspector General J. Russell George went over a list of some of the more egregious expenses from that conference, including, $35,000 on planning trips, $64,000 on gifts and $135,000 on outside speakers, according to Fox News.
Committee chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., made allusion to his frustration with the IRS's handling of the scandal over the tax exempt status of conservative groups while admonishing them for the excessive spending.
"Not only does the IRS take your money, not give you proper answers, but when it comes to tens of millions of dollars, use it in a way, that is, at best, mindlessly self-indulgent," Issa said.
The purpose of the conference was for the IRS to give training to its workers and Issa appeared to be making the connection between a lack of training due to poor spending choices to the other misdeeds within the department, according to CBS News.
"For the tens of thousands of workers who could have received great training...they were treated out of additional education and meaningful training by this waste," Issa said.
Members of the Committee took umbrage to a series of videos made for the conference at great cost. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., even watched the videos over and over at 3 a.m. in an attempt to find value in them, reports CBS News.
"I swear to God, I have looked at that video over and over again and I swear I do not see the redeeming value," Cummings said. "The money that was spent on that - that's my money. The lady up the street who got the early bus this morning - that's her money. The gentleman up the street from me who makes $45,000 hauling trash - that's their money. And so it was wasted."
IRS official Francis Fink, who played Spock in the "Star Trek" spoof that Cummings was referencing, said that the ridiculous spending would not happen anymore.
"In hindsight, many of the expenses that were incurred...should have been more closely scrutinized or not incurred at all, and were not the best use of taxpayer dollars," Fink said. "We would not hold this same type of meeting today."
The IRS estimated that it spent roughly $50,000 on videos for the Anaheim conference, including $2,400 for the set of the "Star Trek" video, according to The Wall Street Journal.
"IRS is taking government arrogance and wasteful spending to an absolutely disgraceful level," John Mica, R-Fla., said.
