The reality is that the Atlas V, built by Lockheed and Boeing is heavily subsidized by the government. It is just more crony capitalism with cost plus contracts.
The only thing that changed between Space-X and ULA is the procurement process. Space-X can put pounds in orbit for NASA cheaper than Lockheed and Boeing do.
Your old pocket protector cost plus government contracts are gone. It's better and cheaper this way, and NASA gets more bang in space for our dollars.
NASA never built a spacecraft. It's all been private contractors, from day 1.
/johnny
The reality is that this country is broke. We must pay the Russians to get a ride to the space station. The new setup is just a fig leaf to cover up how poorly the space program has been managed. Lots of promises years down the line.