Reports of the suborbital passenger launch legislation’s demise were greatly exaggerated, but it’s still on life support. According to Alan Boyle, here’s the problem:

Goldston said it was not clear to him whether the bill would be acceptable to Rep. Oberstar, the ranking Democratic member of the Transportation Committee. But Jim Berard, communications director on the panel’s Democratic staff, made Oberstar’s view quite clear to MSNBC.com: Oberstar believes the bill still does not go far enough to safeguard the safety of crew members and passengers on future suborbital spaceships, he said.

“If the bill is brought up under unanimous consent, Congressman Oberstar would most likely object, unless something can be done to address that particular language,” Berard said.

In a straight up-and-down vote, the opposition of just one member wouldn’t pose a problem. But so little time remains in this lame-duck session that congressional rules have to be short-circuited in order to approve the suborbital spaceflight bill. The easiest way would be through unanimous consent, and Oberstar’s objection would close off that avenue.

Rep. Oberstar apparently thinks that he has to destroy the industry (or prevent it from coming into being at all) in order to save it.

I hope that they can do a rules change to get around him, but I don’t think that they should capitulate to him. I have a feeling that no bill will be better than one worded the way he would want it.