Regarding "legislative intrusion into the judicial process" um, excuse me but didn't the legislature CREATE the judiciary? Isn't it the authority of Congress to set the jurisdiction of the judiciary? Isn't it the legislative body that creates the laws the judiciary is to interpret and apply? Isn't the Constitution a creation of the Congress, and isn't it the right of the Congress and the people to amend that Constitution? The members of the judiciary get one vote on the matter, a vote equal to your vote and my vote -- that is, they vote for their own representatives just like the rest of us. They THINK they get more than that, but constitutionally they do not. If they ever figure that out, then we will have restored the judicial independence the framers had in mind.
The Constitution most certainly is not a creation of the legislature, it is a creation of the people and the people alone have the right to amend it.
Oh yes, it would be more than easy for the legislative and executive branch to get together and slash and eliminate salaries for judges. Course they would probably then rule that they can't do that because it tinkers with the independence of the jud. So I think elimination is better than slashing. Yes, they can definitely dissolve courts and no one can say a damn thing about it. But try getting them to!