According to a recently released preview, President Obama’s State of the Union speech will focus on income inequality. Since this will be the cornerstone of his 2014 agenda, Obama has pledged to use executive orders to raise the minimum wage, pass immigration reform and extend unemployment benefits if Congress fails to take action. Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel appeared on MSNBC’s Up With Steve Kornacki, alongside Huffington Post editor Amandra Terkel, New Jersey Congressman Frank Pallone and Chicago Sun-Times editor Lynn Sweet, to share her predictions for the address. For vanden Heuvel, Obama’s emphasis on the economy is part of a broader progressive resurgence nationally. “I think the president is being moved forward by a constituency that has waited too long.”
—Allegra Kirkland