the problem is not so much the amount of taxes and regulations -- it is the fact that they are redundant, conflicting, and coming from EVERYWHERE! It seems that any govt agency that exists, from the town up past the USG to the UN, wants to stick a finger in my business and stir it or take something out.
As an example, I run a small high tech design and manufacturing shop (mostly carbon fiber and similar tech). This is THE MAJOR obstacle that has prevented us from hiring people for more than a few incidental projects. Simply too much paperwork, regulations, and requirements to be managed before I get the first employee in the door. Seriously, you need to hire an attorney, insurance and tax consultants, and accountants just to sort it out properly. Worse yet, even if I do this, I still cannot be sure that I'm fully compliant with all requirements, and some govt agent isn't going to knock on my door next month to tell me I need to meet another requirement.
If the POTUS could make a program to streamline and organize ALL the governmental aspects of a startup or small biz, it would be enormously helpful. If I could just go to one place (website, office, point of contact, whatever) and get fully setup, many more people would be hired.
This would also dovetail nicely with the recently announced program to reduce redundant oversight agencies, where multiple agencies regulate the same activity.
Oh yes, and simplifying the tax code would help too. when I say simplify, I mean take the tens of thousands of pages of tax law and regs, burn them to a fine dust, and replace them with something that can be written on three standard pages. I love that I'll be getting a nice tax credit this year for being a manufacturer, but I'd rather pay exactly the same as EVERYONE else (e.g., including GE), and not have to invest so much absolutely unproductive resources into complying with the so-called tax code.