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By most reports this bill was watered down on the express meddling of the White house.

This is very unfortunate in that Senator Obama had clearly promised in his pre-election speeches to explicitly push for what this bill was (somewhat) trying to do. Watch this point-by-point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vixVPE4LBAU#!

Now that he is in a position to do so, President Obama is fighting tooth-and-nail to make this a toothless(!) bill.

Why?

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Why? Because... he's a politician?

So was everyone else involved with the bill. That explanation is insufficient.

The question was why did he say one thing then do another.

No, the question was not that general. The question was, verbatim: "Now that he is in a position to do so, President Obama is fighting tooth-and-nail to make this a toothless(!) bill. Why?" Many other politicians did not fight this bill tooth and nail, so that doesn't explain why Obama did.

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