Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) was reluctant to introduce a single payer bill in the Senate.

He knew that of the 100 Senators, he would be alone.

The handful of other Senators who might favor a single payer approach didn’t want to chance offending Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) who, along with Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana), are leading the charge for President Obama in the Senate – and together have kicked single payer off the table.