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Originally Posted by onetime2
And how do legislators influence the military? Spending.
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That's a pretty gross oversimplification. Yes, of course, the budget is the most obvious and tangible stick they have to enforce their will, but I think everyone knows that no Congress is ever going to run the military bankrupt just to get their way. They merely authorize or refuse to authorize specific programs. The budget is the legal process for doing so.
Basically, the point is that responsible leaders will pick and choose those programs that give the best 'bang for the buck' so to speak. This certainly involves choosing to spend or not to spend on certain things, but is not driven by a need to cut, but instead by a drive for effectiveness at the highest efficiency reasonable.
Your proposal of merely cutting funding to enforce efficiency isn't going to have the same beneficial effects. If Congress went to the military and simply said they wanted better results and so therefore were going to cut 20% of the DoD's budget, you don't seriously think that would achieve the desired end do you?