I was mainly referring recent cuts and asking the private sector to develop the heavier launch vehicles. ATK for example was used to zero risk, now they have been asked to risk their own capital.
Yes, ATK seems to have gotten a raw deal. It is a common problem in administering governmental programs that you create a dependent industry, e.g. - lumber towns like Escalante that are dependent on Forest Service resources or Groton, Connecticut's dependence on naval nuclear submarine building, and then when the country's needs or priorities change and the funds stop, then industry and its surrounding communities die. IMHO, NASA and ATK have known what was coming for some time and more could have been done to keep ATK going in Utah with a feeder development contract. - Kurt