Clay Allison literally built his New Jersey nursery from the ground up, but now he fears his 80-hour workweeks are no match for an economy stuck in neutral and government regulation that seems aimed at stunting the growth of small business.

Allison fears his nursery could join some 200,000 small businesses that have failed since 2008, and, as he and others cling to their livelihoods, President Obama's claim the entrepreneurs owe their success to others rings hollow. In particular, Allison bristled at Obama's declaration that small businesses succeed because the government invested in roads and bridges.

"He's absolutely clueless," said Allison, who lives in the rural western New Jersey county of Sussex. "It's so foolish to think that building roads and bridges increases commerce. It makes no sense. Infrastructure improvements are the result of business and profits, not the other way around."