Grand Rapids , Michigan ( CNN ) -- President Obama appeared at two recent fundraisers with some serious sticker shock . About 200 people ponied up at least $ 5,000 per ticket for an event hosted by Ricky Martin . That was followed by a function at a private home where 60 people spent $ 38,500 each to get through the door . Just last week , Obama -- with George Clooney -- raised $ 15 million in one night . This makes me wonder how in the hell our political process became so distorted that Obama needs this much money to run for re-election . I thought we were broke ? And yet , at the end of March , Obama and his presumed general election opponent , Mitt Romney , had raised nearly a combined $ 300 million , almost enough to fund Planned Parenthood 's annual budget by themselves . Forget Wall Street , it 's the campaign trail that needs to be occupied . The median income in the United States is about $ 50,000 , so I doubt very many 99 percenters are able to meet the $ 75,000 minimum that was expected at a recent Romney fundraiser . Did you know the goal of the RNC is to raise $ 800 million by November ? Imagine how many families could be helped if just half of that was used to train people for the new job market , as opposed to being spent to help one guy get hired ? Face it , the president and Romney may have different political and economic views , but they are both propped up by highly affluent power brokers who are expecting big returns for the big checks they are writing . This is why the worst thing to happen to our process was the Supreme Court 's 2010 Citizens United decision , which allows corporations ( and unions ) to spend unlimited funds to promote a candidate . This is akin to handing the keys of a bakery to the Cookie Monster . These big spenders are not just involved in shaping dialogue . They get involved with shaping policy , which inevitably makes the good of the people secondary to the good of the deepest pockets . We do n't just need campaign reform , we need roadblocks to prevent special interest groups from turning the democratic process into more of a sham that it already is . Let the Supreme Court keep its ridiculous ruling , but set a limit on the amount of money candidates can raise and spend on their campaigns . Require all ads and debates to be aired on public television , and then cap the number of hours each party is allowed to use during the general election . By putting it on public television , we stop large media conglomerates from profiting from the process . So , ideally Obama and Romney would both get $ 10 million and 40 hours of advertisement to state their case . Let 's take away the $ 200 million war chests that Obama has been able to amass in both 2008 and 2012 , and force him and future candidates to find a way to persuade the country to vote for them without relying on their ability to outspend their opponent . I know , I know , Romney would n't even be in the position he 's in without outspending -- and dare I say , bullying -- his opponents . By leveling the economic playing field , our politicians have a chance to return to being representatives of the people , not just the ones who know the right people or make the right promises . Before making the rounds in New York on Monday , President Obama tweeted a sentence from the commencement speech he gave at Barnard College : `` Do n't just get involved . Fight for your seat at the table . Better yet , fight for your seat at the head of the table . '' He left out the part about needing $ 5,000 to get in the door so you can even see the table . But I guess those messy details are easy to overlook in a country with an 8.1 % unemployment rate , whose leaders still find it appropriate to hold fundraisers for rich people . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of LZ Granderson .
LZ Granderson : As of March , Obama and Romney had raised combined $ 300 million . LZ asks , since when did candidates need this much money to campaign ? Limits should be put on the time and money spent to win office , he writes . Comment: So many people do n't have jobs , and we 're fundraising for the rich .