IRS Boldly Goes Where No Federal Agency Has Gone Before
Just in case you needed another reason to hate the IRS, it turns out the embattled government agency has used your tax dollars to make a "Star Trek" parody video.
According to a damning new report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, "the IRS spent $50,187 on videos for the Anaheim conference in 2010, including a Star Trek parody that featured IRS executives portraying characters from the television show in a tax-themed skit."
In other words, the IRS spent Americans' hard-earned tax dollars to dress its employees up like Spock and Captain Kirk and broadcast the resulting video to the world.
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One segment of the video features a Chekov-type character, with a thick Russian accent, saying: "Back in Russia, I dreamed someday I'd be rich and famous." "Me too," his colleague replies from the deck of the Star Trek Enterprise. "That's why I became a public servant."
Yes, these so-called "public servants" may not have gotten rich, but they are famous for targeting patriotic American citizens for punishment. And now they're revealing to us their Trekkie tendencies.
Beam us up, Scotty. Beam us back to America.
The report comes mere days after the head of the IRS was forced to resign in disgrace, and after a top IRS official repeatedly refused to explain to Congress why the agency used its power to punish American citizens for their political beliefs.
This is not a joke. It is not science fiction, either. It is further proof that the government has gone out of control at warp speed.
Just like "Star Trek," America has a "prime directive." It's called the Constitution. The Constitution was specifically written to prevent governments from abusing their power over Americans. But the truth we are now living in is stranger than fiction. In the Founders' worst nightmares, they could never have imagined that the federal government's tax collectors would target American citizens for political reasons, then dress up like space cadets and laugh it up.
The IRS is the most feared government agency in America, and for good reason. It can seize our property, place liens on our bank accounts, garnish wages - and worse. Like kings and rulers of old, IRS officials have the full force and authority of government at their disposal.
To joke about this type of authority is beyond inappropriate - it's tyrannical.
To make matters worse, IRS officials wasted the very tax dollars they collected from Americans - during an economic recession - on themselves. That $50,000 the IRS spent on their parody videos (the agency also made a "Gilligan's Island" spoof) is peanuts compared to the nearly $50 million it spent on lavish conferences where high-level officials used taxpayer money to stay in luxury rooms. And that's just what has been uncovered so far.
Instead of funding the IRS's supposed "team building" exercises, how about a constitutional-literacy exercise, or a course on the Bill of Rights? Or maybe the agency's employees could use a lesson on the 10 "deadly sins" that an IRS agent should never commit, including: "Violating the rights protected under the Constitution or the civil rights established under six specifically identified laws with respect to a taxpayer, taxpayer representative, or other employee of the IRS."
The continuing mission of any government agency must be to honor the Constitution, not to persecute patriotic Americans. Arbitrary rule is no laughing matter.
This column originally appeared in The Daily Caller.
