So Griffin is saying "Hey, the big corps have kept us from going where we should have gone for years, I'd like to keep doing that."
Is that your analysis?
No. He would get drummed out of office if he admitted that (he has hinted strongly to that effect, though.)
It is my statement of fact that this is so.
Griffin is doing the standard NASA Administrator role of coming "hat in hand" saying "we are doing the best we can, please keep filling our trough with cash, else we'll never get to the Moon, or Mars and a whole lot of smart people will be looking for honest work."
Reality has a way of making transparent even the best constructed fiction. No shuttle flights and having to pay the Russians to carry our astronauts and cargo up to the very expensive space station, that we can't effectively utilize for the science benefits, that it was sold to Congress on, is beginning to get embarrassing even for the most hearty NASA supporters on the Hill.
NASA's recycled manned launcher (CLV) and Lunar plans (CEV, etc.) are so uninspiring, that even avid space supporters are having difficulty getting excited about them, and have little faith that NASA will actually produce flight hardware anytime this decade, if ever.
I feel for Griffin, as he seems to be an honest man sent on a fools errand to justify the unjustifiable to those who have seen this routine done too many times before by better liars.