I'm almost positive Amtrak doesn't own or administer the Guest Rewards program. It is contracted out to to a third-party company. While I don't doubt Amtrak has a say in the blackout matter, it isn't neccessarily all their fault. I do agree the blackout period is a bit excessive, but the trains usually run pretty full around then too. Don't want to give away free seats when you can sell them.

A lot of people complain about the two week time period required to redeem award travel. This isn't Amtak's decision, but the company who runs the program (I forget who it is). The redemption period used to be three weeks, but they recently shortened it.