According to a report from the Wall Street Journal,''Liberal groups and many Democrats in Congress have long sought measures to address income inequality and pushed for an increase in the minimum wage''. Mr. Obama used his 2013 State of the Union address to urge Congress to increase the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour and index it to inflation.
The president listed a series of statistics to highlight what he said was troubling economic inequality in the U.S. "Since 1979, when I graduated from high school, our productivity is up by more than 90%, but the income of the typical family has increased by less than 8%," he said.
He said inequality has also made it difficult for Americans to improve their economic standing, and noted that it is easier for people in countries such as Canada, Germany and France to move up.
Mr. Obama echoed many of the ideas he's offered before: closing tax loopholes and using the increased revenue for infrastructure projects; unwinding the across-the-board spending cuts known as the sequester; and raising the federal minimum wage, now at $7.25 an hour.
