[Daseal]

Originally Posted by firstdown

So around the same time the goverment was bashing buisnesses for having expensive trips we find out the IRS was doing the same thing.

Already heavily criticized for targeting conservative groups, the Internal Revenue Service absorbed another blow Tuesday as new details emerged about senior officials enjoying luxury hotel rooms, free drinks and free food at a $4.1 million training conference. It was one of many expensive gatherings the agency held for employees over a three-year period.

One top official stayed five nights in a room that regularly goes for $3,500 a night. Another official, Faris Fink, stayed four nights in a room that regularly goes for $1,499.

Fink was later promoted to head the IRS division that staged the 2010 conference in Anaheim, Calif., a position he still holds. He also has the distinction of playing Mr. Spock in a cheesy but slickly-produced "Star Trek" video that IRS employees filmed for the conference.

A total of 132 IRS officials received room upgrades at the conference, according to a report by J. Russell George, the Treasury Department inspector general for tax administration. The tax agency paid a flat daily fee of $135 per hotel room, the report said, but the upgrades were part of a package deal that added to the overall cost of the conference.

Getting hotel rooms for $135 a night that typically go for substantially more is not rare. I've stayed in rooms that typically go for 300-450 a night for the government rate. You call, say you want a room but must pay gov't rate and most hotels give it to you (provided you're on travel).