The past couple of weeks have been tough on Rep. Brian Baird (D-Vancouver).
First, Baird decided last week to forego holding an in-person Town Hall meeting on healthcare reform after receiving a faxed death threat and several menacing calls. Instead, the six-term Congressman had private conversations with constituents via a computerized phone system on Aug. 7.
Baird's decision came as many constituent meetings across the country escalated into screaming matches between opponents and proponents of the various healthcare reform plans debated by Congress.
Healthcare wasn't the only minefield Baird had to negotiate last week.
Details from a 2008 Congressional trip to the South Pole led by Baird surfaced last Saturday in a story published by the Wall Street Journal. In that story, the WSJ claimed the 11-day trip cost taxpayers in excess of $500,000 – well over the $103,000 disclosed by Baird – a discrepancy chiefly due to the addition of per-hour flight costs for U.S. Air Force planes accompanying the delegation.
Baird was unavailable for comment, according to a spokesman. But in a personal report filed after the trip, Baird called the experience of seeing the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia – another stop on the trip – "transformative."
