USA Today: IRS Spent $50 Million In Conferences Over 2 Years

For many of us, work conferences involve stilted conversations, awkward name tags, and gluing your eyes to the clock. For the IRS, it includes subsidized baseball tickets, presidential suites, and presentations on “leadership through art.”

USA Today is reporting this morning that between 2010 and 2012, the IRS spent $50 million on conferences between 2010 and 2012. Yet another sign that an independent government agency charged with vast power over Americans’ pocketbooks has gone out of control.

The paper is reporting the IRS spent $4 million on just one conference in Anaheim, California. The agency didn’t even bother negotiating lower room rates—a standard practice.

That same conference showered attendees the aforementioned goodies described above. It even featured the infamous Star Trek parody and dance video found below.

Remember, this is not the first government agency caught spending recklessly on conferences during the Obama Administration. Last year, the GSA came under fire for spending approximately $28 million in taxpayer funds on events. Who could forget this photo of GSA Regional Commissioner Jeffrey Neely lounging in the bathtub of a four-star Las Vegas resort?

Today’s report is going to be yet another black eye for the IRS—an agency already tainted by a massive scandal whose details are still being fully uncovered. One thing is for certain right now though: the behavior of this agency shows a reckless disregard for taxpayers and shows an atmosphere that was devoid of any leadership.