Obama suggests campaign finance amendment

Combined news services

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama said the nation should consider mobilizing behind a constitutional amendment process to overturn the Supreme Court ruling that loosened restrictions on money in politics.

Obama made the comment yesterday in an online chat with the website Reddit. The 2010 Citizens United ruling paved the way for a flood of campaign cash from corporations, unions and wealthy interests.

The president said that even if the amendment process fell short, "it can shine a spotlight" on super PACs and "help apply pressure for change."

Obama said that in the meantime there's a need for more disclosure of the large campaign contributions flowing into super PACs and that such contributions "fundamentally threaten to overwhelm the political process."

In the chat, Obama also said his decision to commit more than 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan was the most difficult decision of his presidency.

"Any time you send our brave men and women into battle, you know that not everyone will come home safely, and that necessarily weighs heavily on you," Obama wrote.

The surge -- announced in 2009 -- committed additional forces to the conflict at the request of military leaders on the ground.

"The decision did help us blunt the Taliban's momentum, and is allowing us to transition to Afghan lead -- so we will have recovered that surge at the end of this month, and will end the war at the end of 2014. But knowing of the heroes that have fallen is something you never forget," Obama wrote.

Obama answered questions from users of Reddit after a campaign rally in Charlottesville, Va.

"Change was possible because you made it possible," Obama told 7,500 people at a pavilion near the University of Virginia. "So you can't get tired now because we've got more work to do."

The school declined the campaign's request for the president to speak on campus, saying it would disrupt classes on the second day of the semester.

With AP and Politico.com