Last week, CBS News got its hands on a copy of a Star Trek-themed training video the IRS made for its employees in 2010. The video and a Gilligan’s Island-themed one also shot in the tax agency’s in-house studio reportedly cost $60,000 to make. William Shatner is not amused:
So I watched that IRS video. I am appalled at the utter waste of US tax dollars.
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) March 26, 2013
Predictably, congressional belt-tighteners have set their phasers to outrage. “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,” fumed Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.). (Meanwhile Congress is acting highly illogically by spending $380 million on photon torpedoes that don’t work and no one wants.) Cowed by its critics, the IRS has apologized for “the space parody video.”
At least none of your tax money was spent on acting lessons:
And so far, no one is freaking out about these Star Trek-themed spots produced by the Social Security Administration. Probably because they feature George “Sulu” Takei, who is awesome.
And let’s not forget the time NASA decided to name a spaceship after the USS Enterprise.
