The private sector reached space with spaceship one. And plus the negative backlash from the U.S. government saying they have a say in who space travels! I loved the Astronaut Farmer movie BTW.

Anything that reminds a government that the rules it has set actually apply is a good thing.
We have much too many rules and nobody thinks twice about making yet more since most of them are just ignored once the media effect is gone.
This is not acceptable. I'd wager that things would change pretty quick if ALL the laws theoretically "in force" were actually enforced and people could judge them by the impact on their lives.
My bet is that a fair number of the laws would be repelled and, just maybe, we could then cut the number of laws down to a more manageable size.

Makes you wonder if someone else that is from Texas might have to give back a kickback.

Sounds like Oceaneering International didn't offer as much of a kick back if any to (some senator(s) fund) as Exploration Systems & Technology might have. This is not fact - just expected as that tends to be the way these days. A little open to the public on the reasons would be expected unless there is something to hide, gov.

'nuff said

Given that the scuttle's all but worn out and the americans won't have anything else to get them into space for many years, you've got to wonder what they thought they needed spacesuits for in the first place.