Here's the $52K Taxpayer-Funded 'Patton' Parody You Never Wanted to See

A $52,000 Department of Veterans Affairs video parodying George C. Scott's famous "Patton" monologue surfaced Wednesday, as lawmakers, most notably Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA), have called on the agency to explain its costly taxpayer-funded junkets.

Wait -- the VA spent $52,000 on a single video? Yes. Yes, they did.

For a bit of perspective, consider the following: according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income for the average American is $51,000, which, of course,means the VA spent more on a this video than the average American makes in a year.

And it was all taxpayer-funded.

The video was commissioned in connection with two VA conferences held last year in Orlando, Fox News reports.

“Those conferences,” the report continues, “ran taxpayers a total of $5 million and were held for HR workers -- are now under investigation by the department's inspector general."

Here’s the video in question, [keep in mind this cost $52,000 to produce]:

“The video was obtained by the House Veterans Affairs Committee and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, both of which are looking into the conferences,” Fox reports.

Since details of the VA’s lavish spending habits have come to light, department officials have promised to crack down on misconduct.

"Allegations of misconduct received by the VA Office of Inspector General regarding two training conferences in 2011 are unacceptable," the department said in a written statement, adding that it plans to "hold accountable" anyone who "misused taxpayer dollars or violated our standards of conduct."

The department has also ordered an outside review of its conferences. The IG's office says it began the review back in April.

"Since then, a series of interviews have uncovered questionable activities and we have notified both the secretary and Congress of these issues," the office said in a written statement.

Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter

Read Rep. Issa's letter to the VA requesting the video and documents here.