Commercial space ventures blossomed very nicely all by themselves alongside NASA’s programs. Commercial efforts are at an all time high with no help Obama. Of course, he will want to take credit.
We would be much further along in space than we are now if it weren’t for the outer space treaty holding us back.
As things stand now there’s just no hope of profit for private industry. (beyond transportation) No claims can be made on any natural bodies in space so anything of value basically belongs to the entire world. Space has the same basic status as Antarctica and holds no value for anything other than science.