Let us now take a look at the best of what the Democratic Party has to offer.

That would be the so-called Progressive Caucus.

That would consist of the 80 or so members of the Congress who say they support a single payer health plan.

But who won’t lift a finger to fight for it.

As a result, single payer was taken off the table before the health care debate started last year.

In July 2009, 57 members of the Progressive Caucus drew a line in the sand.

Emphasis on the word “sand.”

They wrote a letter to the House Democratic leadership.

It it, they said this:

“Any bill that does not provide, at a minimum, for a public option with reimbursement rates based on Medicare rates — not negotiated rates — is unacceptable.”

That would be, as in, unacceptable.

Today we surveyed those 57 members and asked them a simple question.

Since the new health care plan being floated by President Obama and the House leadership is stripped of a public option, do you still find it unacceptable?

That is – will you vote against it?

Not surprisingly, only one member of Congress responded to the survey.

That would be Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio).

Kucinich indicated strongly that he will vote against Obamacare.

His press secretary forwarded an article from the Wall Street Journal.

Kucinich told the Journal:

“The new proposal starts with a wholly unacceptable Senate health care bill and, with a few exceptions, continues to make it worse. It’s a much better bill for insurance company investors than it is for the American people.”

Kucinich and Eric Massa (D-New York) were the only two single payer progressives in the House who voted against Obamacare last year – when it contained a weak public option.

At the time, they both called the bill a bailout of the insurance industry.

But as of now – it appears that of the more than 80 so-called progressives in Congress – only Kucinich has held firm.

That could be enough to sink Obamacare.

And begin again to build a populist base for single payer.