“We’ve had such regression of humanism about work and jobs in this country,” says Nation editor-in-chief Katrina vanden Heuvel, about Obama’s proposed minimum wage increase, “that the president putting that out there is something people can organize around in states and communities.” Appearing on The Brian Lehrer Show, vanden Heuvel breaks down what Obama said—and didn’t say—in his State of the Union address.

—James Cersonsky

Read Aura Bogado’s take on the president’s goals for immigration reform.