Government Bonds

I'm getting ready to buy a house so I've been taking stock of my financial situation.  In doing so I took a look at the US Government Savings Bonds that I've collected over the years - for birthdays, holidays, and random grandparent spoilings.

If you have no idea what a government savings bond is, you're likely born after the 80's but regardless you can learn more here.

I gotta ask, in this time of recession why has the government not promoted savings bonds as they have during previous war eras when the government also needed money?  Sure, the majority of people have little money to 'invest' in savings bonds, but others are in stable financial situations of course, and babies and birthdays still happen regardless of status of the economy..

The other thing I noticed in my Savings Bonds research is that the US Treasury is converting from paper bonds to electronic bonds, and in doing so, instead of paying half of the maturity price (ie, $25 for a $50 bond) the purchase price will be 1:1 (ie. $25 gets you $25).  If I understand correctly (and I am not financial wiz, nor do I fully understand legal/accounting jargon) basically they are turning savings bonds into very long-term CD's...  Apparently the Treasury is not so much interested in selling bonds because why would it make sense to buy a 20-year Bond at a 1.2% interest rate when you can get a better rate on a 5-year CD??

While I feel good buying savings bonds - giving a gift that my niece can appreciate when she's old enough and being able to help the economy, now that I've done my research I just feel like I'm being taken for a fool. 

To my brother/sis-in-law, from now on I'm just putting the money in a separate bank account/trust...