Nothing to do With Football: Rant & Rave

I have tried to keep the faith that the Obama administration knows what they're doing.  The Cash for Clunkers thing missed the mark (if We the People put up big money to save GM, why did the Clunkers program spend 22% of the total on Toyota?). I'm hoping that they get frustrated and quit before they fu&# up health care more than it already is. They haven't done a goddamn thing about the hordes of illegal immigrants or the ongoing squander of lives and wealth in Afghanistan and related toilet countries. Despite all those non-achievements, I have still tried to have faith.  I have tried based on the mess that W and friends created before they slithered away, and based on our country needing to succeed with the current group at the helm.

Sadly, the latest brainstorm from DC has overwhelmed my ability to believe. I am referring to the proposal to give every newborn child a $500 savings account.  Despite all the bulls#&t propaganda that has accompanied the idea (the money will go to the child's education, to buy a first house, blah-blah-blah mom & apple pie), there are some enormous holes in this boat. 

For starters, we don't have the money, $3.25 BILLION per year.  We still owe the $3 billion they put into the Clunkers for Toyotas program.  Next, what is the stimulus value of handing out cash from the empty government cash drawer?  This money is supposed to be tied up for 18 years minimum.  The Fed hands out $3 billion a year that gets invested with the financial institutions that we've already paid billions to bail out...uh-huh,  sounds like giving the fox a suite in the henhouse.  Finally, I have a problem with the notion that this is a modern Robin Hood play, when most of recipients would be the offspring of people who are already costing us a shitload of cash,including all the kids born to the millions of illegal aliens. I'll give my family's newborns $500 apiece, the rest of the country is on their own.

What do you think? 

End of rant and on to football. 
****Arizona State @ Oregon -17 1/2
I admit that I was shaken by Oregon's performance last week, more specifically by my inability to foresee how they would perform (a 52-41 loss to Stanford). Some  behaviors are clearly aberrent, and that's what we had last week. The Ducks are 7-2 and a really good team whose bowl game expectations are in jeopardy. Arizona State is the visitor here, and they extended themselves to the limit last Saturday night at home in a 14-9 loss to USC. I think it's a bounce-back performance for Oregon against a spent SunDevils squad.
***Georgia Tech -10 1/2 @ Duke
The Wreck has shown some big talent this year. Duke, the opponent and home team,  is better than they used to be (they were headed for a new major college consecutive loss record a couple autumns ago until Northwestern handed them a victory on a night in Evanston when yours truly sat in the stands in angry witness ) but they still have a ways to go. I'll confess, follow the leader put me over the top: 90% of the bettors were headed this way, and that was enough to bring me in.
**Clemson -8 @ NC State
Clemson comes in 6-3, NC State is 4-5, with all 4 wins at home. Clemson has beaten Miami and FSU in the last three weeks (with a blowout against Coastal Carolina in the middle). NC State beat Maryland last week, but had a string of losses against average opponents prior to that.  Clemson appears to be much stronger and I'm betting that they'll show it.
*Utah @ TCU -20
It's a bit risky to lay 20 at this point in the season when pairing up an 8-1 team with a 9-0 team. Here's my reasoning: Utah is 3-6 ATS while TCU  is a nifty 7-2 ATS, including their last four in a row, 3 of those by double digits. TCU has the opportunity for a great bowl invitation, and beating the snot out of your late in the season opponents is a great way to put your best foot forward.

I'll offer up the over (47) on this game as my suggestion for a Parley Pete Play, that is TCU-20 linked with over 47.  Two Gun has instructed me that this type of wager typically pays as well as the government.

We shall play the role of Toyota.