We spent the better part of 50 years pouring most of our launch funding (which was reduced compared to the Apollo years) into the Space Shuttle program, which was never as efficient as hoped. (In part because it is a jobs and corporate welfare program as well as a space program.)

Hell, aside from SpaceX and a few similar efforts, we're still pouring most of our launch funding into the Space Shuttle Program, via it's SLS successor - currently over $11 billion spent on a program that has had, to date, one launch.