I would tend to agree with you. There are now some viable private enterprise groups that could make a go at it. Burt Rutan (who will likely win the X prize) already has plans on the boards for his next level craft that will take them into LEO.

It is kind of sad though, NASA has some of the best engineers out there. They have just been heavly handicaped by Congress. Even NASA will tell you that the Shuttle was never really suppose to last this long.

Still, I've got my fingers crossed that the storm veers away and they are spared. They've had enough bad luck in the last several years.