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By Karen E. Klein

In the midst of a bruising recession and a stubborn credit freeze, small business owners are reacting with a combination of hope, fear, and skepticism to the enormous policy changes being announced thick and fast by the new Democratic Administration in Washington, experts say. To get a sense of individual entrepreneurs' opinions about what's working and what's not, we requested feedback on President Barack Obama and his policies. Flip through this slide show for thoughts from 15 small business founders and chief executives from across the country.