Maybe they are? Think about it. If you own a large business and are considering accepting bitcoin as payment wouldn't you want to know how regulators are going to treat it, to have assurances that the government isn't going to "ban" it or add fees that make it more expensive than cash/credit/et al? This policy issuance serves that purpose and gives other nations' federal agencies a guideline and gives them notice that if they create an environment less hospitable than the U.S. then they are losing that source of new economic activity and growth. There may be short-term negative effects from hardcore libertarians ceasing certain uses along with those who find paying 10% or 15% on short-term profits---hard to say how many people this is since if you buy $100 of bitcoin, then sell it for $200 a month later, does $10 in tax make that $90 not worth it anymore? not to mention that the IRS' resources are stretched so thin that they can do very little in terms of enforcement.
I know that it's hard not to interpret anything a federal agency (especially the IRS) involves itself in as bad and harmful since that it is so ingrained into the public's minds with so many negative associations, but try to step back and look at this impartially as possible. I'm not saying only my thoughts are wrong but to think of what actual, individual effects this and similar rule issues have.