Although many critics have argued that this limit violates the First Amendment, few have discussed how it would help incumbents and hamstring challengers.
Challengers already face an uphill battle.
Thanks to a vast array of taxpayer-funded benefits, each incumbent enters the election hundreds of thousands of dollars ahead of any challenger in real campaign spending. Shays-Meehan would institutionalize that difference by making it impossible for challengers to offset the countless perks that incumbents enjoy. Taxpayer-funded recording studios. Congress has developed facilities for preparing audiotapes and films that are available to members free of charge. Needless to say, challengers have no access to those facilities.