This is a problem even within NASA (as I know from personal experience). It's a lot easier to get a budget approved for something that costs a moderate amount per month for a long time than something that has a big initial cost but is a lot cheaper in the long run.

NASA has matured into a federal agency. In the 1960s it was primarily an organization for engineers, managed by engineers or ex-engineers. Nowadays it's a government organization managed by accountants and bureaucrats.

Still a bargain, IMHO.

No question about that. It's difficult to get hard-and-fast cost estimates for the Boeing 601HP too. When you're spending that much money, Boeing doesn't necessarily want its future customers to know how much it either gouged or coddled its previous customers. They're surprisingly tight-lipped. And now they're pushing the 701 series, which I've heard has a spacecraft sticker price of about $300M.