You know what also kills innovation and business? Not investing in public education. Not providing health care to workers. Not providing a legal system to make laws, a judicial system to interpret laws and contracts, etc. Not investing in fundamental research. Not regulating the money supply... one could go on for tomes.
If business taxes "hurt" business, then what you get for them "helps" business. In this trade-off neither extreme is desirable.
I am European. I worked at two start-ups in two different EU countries before coming to California for grad school. What I experienced is that social welfare has its costs. If you found a start-up and are trying to survive, high-taxes only work against you.
Well, then we're definitely just coming from different places, and arguing that we should head in opposite directions, while looking at the same goal. By American standards, California has very high tax rates, as well as an excellent system of public higher education.
I'm also glad we agree that taxation should be about maximizing overall productivity, not about idealistic comfort.
Quoting Sir Winston Churchill:
"We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."