What the FAA is doing has nothing to do with making it harder to build, that is just the only way they see to fix the problem.  The problem as stated by the administrator and others are the "commercial" "professional"  shops building aircraft for profit and the owner turning 2 screws on the aircraft and saying it is amateur built.  I remember a company that was doing V8 conversions for LIV's and I witnessed their operation for a few years.  They were building complete LIV's with either the V8 or turbo prop and the DER would sign it off and the owner never touched the plane.  I doubt the owner even knew how the landing gear worked.  The "professionals" building the planes for profit were college students making 5 bucks and hour and ex auto mechanics.  I trust people who spend the time and effort to learn how to use all of these processes and build their aircraft for themselves.  As the old saying "if you want it done right, do it yourself."  I saw some of the most shoddy work ever of these 1/2 million dollar aircraft and due to that, there were alot of crashed and broken planes.  Not all fatal but lots of money lost.  I am not saying that there are not good "commercial" shops to help build and make the process safer with people that have done it before, but do not confuse that with someone doing it strictly for profit with no experience.  I can go out and buy a bunch of tools, rent a hanger and put up and add saying experienced aircraft builder, and no one would no the wiser.  The epic is another reason the FAA is jumping on this.  A 7 to 10 seat pressurized turbine.  Please tell me who is building that for recreation and learning.  I do believe that the FAA should make it easier to certify aircraft so that more advanced technologies can be used and the price reduced, but the FAA is a bureaucracy and that is just what we get.  I hear people say, so what if I build a plane a kill myself.  It is not about you the pilot but the other people you will crash into.  If you want to build something and fly it in uncontrolled airspace over unpopulated areas with minimal FAA interference, they will happily sign you off with those restriction.  I used to know an FAA inspector that said he would give you an airworthiness certificate for a 2 by 4 if you want.  The restrictions would be 5 feet left and right and above centerline of one runway.
Just my 2 cents.
Luke Alcorn