If this helps Obama, why does he want to veto it?
Because he is an petulant, arrogant ass who does not want people telling him what to do.
because the friend of my enemy is my enemy
He doesn’t want the language of the statute changed. He just wants to be able to ignore what it says whatever it says.
I think that any action that mitigates the negative effects of ObamaCare actually helps Obama, even if he fights it.
It doesn't help Obama at all. It allows insurance companies to sell individual policies outside of the Exchanges and without any of the restrictions or mandates of Obamacare. It is a good bill - not as good as total repeal, but a heck of a lot better than a simple delay of the mandate. It makes it possible for insurance companies to actually survive this, which is in direct opposition to the planned objective of Obamacare which is to drive insurers out of the market.
Simple ... it's a Republican bill. He won't support anything with an R on it.
It would be a concession and his ego won't allow that even if it means he goes down in flames - his EOs and Admin Actions have proved that he will flail and thrash til the bitter end. It is actually a good thing for us that he and Harry won't have any of it - they have lost their grip on the Blame-the-Republicans meme.