Briefs: Congressional wisdom; Cislunar plans; CxP death's trivial impact on DoD

Meanwhile, NASA is forced by Congress to continue working towards a truly amazing goal - developing a system that would cost even more than the Shuttle to service the ISS: Busy Schedule for Ares Rocket That Obama Wants Scrapped - NYTimes.com.
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A discussion of NASA's exploration plans with respect to "cislunar space destinations like lunar orbit, Earth-Moon Lagrange points, and GEO ": Flexible Path to the Moon: NASA's Cislunar Space Plans - Vision Restoration - May.15.10.
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The USAF Deputy Undersecretary For Space Programs says that the Constellation cancellation "has a trivial impact on space launch": Gary Payton - Defense News.

He also says this about potential competitors to the EELVs for launching military payloads: A. We have a set of criteria called the New Entrant Evaluation Plan. One of those requirements is a design review to show margins and the design of the launch vehicle. Both Orbital Sciences and SpaceX will satisfy the new entrant criteria as they progress through NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program. I don't have any problem seeing a future where, for the right size satellites, SpaceX should be a competitor.