I know Bittner was charging a fee at one stage but I have no idea how much money he made. If Gene can do the same thing you can understand why he doesn't want to be on the road. Look what happened last time he went on the road and did the Slayer tour, there was times he was doing double duty and doing Slayer's video, the poor bugger needs a rest
Actual progress on DA would mean Gene and Ron in the same room and I think Ron is too busy with life. But that could be Gene's plan, to get shit out of the way so when Ron is ready they can jump into it.