Critics of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau often claim to speak for small business. But when small business gets to speak for itself, it tells a different story, according to an online survey conducted by Lake Research and released this week by Small Business Majority.

Eighty-four percent of the sample said that they strongly (46%) or somewhat (38%) support the CFPB (“the new federal agency designed to provide ongoing oversight of Wall Street”).

Here are additional findings from Small Business Majority’s summary of the survey.

• “Contrary to the mantra that slackening Wall Street’s reins will bring economic growth, four out of five small business owners believe Wall Street should be held accountable for the practices that caused the financial crisis, through tougher rules and enforcement. Considering the oft-politicized nature of this topic, it’s noteworthy this was a majority Republican sample.”
• “[A] two-thirds majority agrees that in general, the current degree to which government oversees financial companies—including new rules Wall Street must follow under the 2010 Dodd Frank Act—should either be strengthened, or be implemented as they are. Only one-third believes the level of regulation should decrease.”
• “Nearly six in 10 small business owners agree that for far too long, Wall Street banks and financial companies wrote their own rules, leaving small businesses and consumers vulnerable and without protection. They believe the CFPB is needed because its sole mission is to change that. What’s more, by a 2:1 ratio, owners agree the CFPB should maintain independent funding, rather than going through the Congressional budget process, so that financial industry lobbyists can’t block its work when it makes decisions they don’t like.”
• “On the topic of specific financial products, small employers almost unanimously support provisions of the Credit CARD Act of 2009. Every provision of this act that we polled on was supported by nearly 100% of respondents. Moreover, 19 in 20 owners would like to see the CARD Act provisions extended to small business credit cards (they currently only apply to personal credit cards).”

“The poll also revealed that small businesses are notably dissatisfied with financial institutions’ transaction processing procedures and lack of transparency around loan products. Sweeping majorities support reforming these policies through government regulation.”

“The majority of respondents polled were Republican, with 52% identifying as Republican or independent-leaning Republican, 34% as Democrats or independent-leaning Democrats and 11% as independent. The poll of 500 small business owners was conducted online from Jan. 9 – Jan. 16, 2013.”