By Mikal E. Belicove|For entrepreneur.com|February 9, 2012

With all the anti-regulation sentiment expressed lately by candidates on the campaign trail and in a dozen and a half debates, you’d think small-business owners would be in agreement that government regulations are destroying their enterprises.

The hue and cry coming off the presidential campaign this year includes rhetoric that blames federal and local regulations for driving up costs, hindering investment, ruining small businesses, destroying jobs and placing a regulatory burden on the U.S. economy.

But is that the way main-street merchants see the issue? Not the ones I talk to in telephone interviews and personal interactions in my travels. The truth is, when it comes to government regulations, small-business owners say they’ve got much bigger fish to fry.

What’s more, many small businesses actually value regulations. More than three quarters of the 500 small-business owners participating in a recent survey said regulations are necessary to protect them from unfair competition and nearly as many believe regulations on the books should be enforced. That’s according to the American Sustainable Business Council, Main Street Alliance and Small Business Majority, which conducted the survey.

What is really needed, small-business owners say, is…

Continue Reading: Main Street Merchants Aren’t Deterred By Red Tape