Space-x has a manned capsule in the works to ferry astronauts to the space station. Should be ready in the next 18 months. Their ultimate goal is a trip to Mars.
I know what we have and what we need and agree with both your ideas about what we have and what we need.
We still need a to orbit platform before we stopped the shuttle program (not a huge fan of the shuttle program but it worked and was still working when zer0 $h!7-canned it.