Veterans Department Parody Cost Taxpayers $52K

FOX NEWS: A video parody of the movie “Patton” which the Department of Veterans Affairs spent $52,000 to produce surfaced Wednesday, as lawmakers stepped up pressure on the VA to explain another set of questionable and costly conferences. The parody was commissioned in connection with two VA conferences held last year in Orlando. Those conferences — which according to Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., ran taxpayers a total of $5 million and were held for HR workers — are now under investigation by the department’s inspector general. The price tag on those conferences far exceeds the roughly $830,000 spent by the General Services Administration at a 2010 Las Vegas conference, a lavish affair that drew outrage on Capitol Hill. The video parody in question starred an actor who satirized the opening scene from “Patton,” the 1970 film starring George C. Scott as Gen. George Patton. In the 15-minute spoof, the fake general goes on about “mission imperatives” in the HR world. He discusses such vague terms as “purpose, innovation and impact,” while pep-talking the audience of HR professionals. “Today you are embarking on a major campaign,” the actor says, standing in front of a giant American flag image as in the original. “I want you to remember that no unit ever accomplished its mission without a strong sense of purpose, a keen eye for innovation and a constant focus on the impact of their action. Those of you here today — HR professionals at VA — require those same qualities to accomplish your objectives.”