While calling them "death panels" sounds like fear mongering, restricted care to the elderly is right around the corner, so I don't really see an huge issue with sensationalizing it.
If you want to point fingers at the nutty, you need a lot of fingers pointing on both sides of the isle. You could start on the Democratic side with Rep. Hank Johnson asking if Guam would tip because too many people on one side.
His spokesmen quickly tried to coverup saying that it was meant "figuratively", and Mr Johnson later said he was joking. Watching the live footage, it's obvious he wasn't talking figuratively. If he really was joking (which is a blatantly obvious copout), why is the jackass wasting the time of Congress?