So just what the problem is, with some people, if we initiated a new set of manned Moon landings, is beyond me! That first succesful landing in the future——only the 7th one, in the history of humankind, will almost certainly push the envelope of planetary surface operations. They’d most certainly bring along a rover-car——one which likely could be reused, and later unmannedly sent to another site. If they stayed so much as four days on the Lunar surface, they’d instantly make a record of longest landing surface stay time, ever! Increased technology, with regard to space suits, supply-logistics, & radiation-protection, would yield great long-run gifts towards the future.

I think once you pick the right people you give them the ball and let them run with it.

But who are “the right people” and what are “your” qualifications for picking them?

If you say “We have decided that you are the ‘right’ people to make our ball; here is your first payment; just let us know if you need any more” . . . nothing could ever go wrong with that, could it?

If you say “”We have decided that you are the ‘right’ people to make our ball; here is your first payment; there’s more if you need it, but you’ll have to let us watch what you’re doing all the time to make sure you’re not cheating us. And if that means it will cost more, OK.”, that gives the current situation for everything except Commercial Crew.

If you say “This is the kind of ball we want, and this is what we’ll pay for it. And perhaps we’ll come up with some modest progress payments, but you shouldn’t count on major money until you actually have a ball to deliver” then the “wrong”
people will eliminate themselves by failing to come up with anything to deliver, at no more than modest cost to you.

We can keep SLS/Orion going at a lower level as a slush fund to keep the money from going away, which we can cut whenever we have something important we need . . .

How many time have we managed that so far, in the four (five?) years since the Senate came up with the Senate Launch System?

Not if you actually want to end up with reduced launch prices. You don’t make something cheaper by throwing money at it. And throwing government money at it is even worse, because of the strings that inevitably accompany it. “Massive” funding for “commercial” crew will cause it to cease being commercial; SpaceX and OSC will become just two more government design bureaus, like Boeing and Lockmart before them.

In my opinion, continually shaving money off the administration’s proposed budget for commercial crew will prove highly beneficial to privately-funded spaceflight in the long run (although that certainly isn’t the intention of any of the current congressional barbers).