I dont read it as "this is the government position". I read it as "this is a problem that we NEED the government to fix." A 'building of support for...' type of article.
I just want everyone to read CAREFULLY when these types of articles pop up. These liberal experts are really good at making it sound like whatever loony scheme they have concocted is "official." The press, as in the case of this Seattle paper, is often in on it.
All stories that assemble opinions of "experts" and "unnamed sources" should be read very, very carefully.