Is monero as private as everyone says?
Yes. The US government posted bounties of $625,000 for cracking Monero, which were not claimed, and no blockchain analysis company advertises Monero break services. The government (so far) are unable to break Monero, provided you use it properly.
Will positive comments about the proposed regulation also be taken into account and what stops the government from sponsoring comments encouraging it inorder to counter any criticism that it gets?
Yes and nothing, but they are still required to respond to negative comments, particularly any that can cite relevant laws explaining why this proposal is a crazy overreach.