U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, the first-term Democrat from Orlando, already has a well-deserved reputation for overheated rhetoric. But he outdid himself Tuesday night when he declared -- on the floor of the House -- that the "Republican plan" for health care was for Americans to not get sick, or to "die quickly" if they do.

There is no place in a civil debate in Congress for this kind of hyperbolic, hyperpartisan attack. It's outrageous. Mr. Grayson owes the House a sincere apology.

But is it any surprise that pugnacious Democrats like Mr. Grayson are fighting back in the escalating war of words of health-care reform? Some Republicans, after all, have been hurling their own over-the-top charges at Democrats for weeks, like accusing them of favoring "death panels" to deny care to the elderly and disabled. A pox on both their houses.

We understand the mounting frustration among Democrats who are convinced that Republicans have no goal other than blocking health care reform. But there is plenty of room for principled objections to reform of the kind that the president and Democrats favor.

The slash-and-burn approach to debate on both sides will doom any chance for bipartisan health-care reform.

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