Is this appropriate behavior for government employees? No.
But here’s a real outrage: Republicans are wasting time criticizing the “Cupid Shuffle” while they continue to block funding for critical programs like Head Start, that provides low-income children with health and nutritional needs; Pell Grants that help low-income students pay for college; and quality health care initiatives for Americans who can’t afford to visit a doctor.
While the president is lobbying for Congress to pass legislation that would help millions of disenfranchised Americans, Issa’s committee is fixated on the “Cupid Shuffle” and plans to feature the video in an upcoming hearing as a glaring example of how some IRS employees are wasting taxpayer money.
The release of the video comes just days before the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration is prepared to release a report about the IRS targeting conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
“Whether it is the tens of thousands of hard-earned taxpayer dollars spent to produce frivolous entertainment for agency bureaucrats, or the IRS’s own admission that it targeted the American people based on their personal beliefs, the outrage toward the IRS is only growing stronger,” Boustany said in a statement.
Obama has already taken ownership of the problem by denouncing the IRS leadership, and acting IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel said the upcoming report will show “an unfortunate vestige from a prior era.” Calling the expenses from the conferences “inappropriate,” Werfel said similar incidents won’t happen again.
Meanwhile, Republicans will continue to waste taxpayer-funded hearings criticizing the “Cupid Shuffle” instead of passing critical legislation that would help improve the quality of life for countless Americans who are struggling every day to make ends meet.
It’s the worst kind of hypocrisy.
ANALYSIS: GOP Uses Taxpayer-Funded Hearings to Criticize the ‘Cupid Shuffle’ was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
