Julie Pace is reporting for the Associated Press President Barack Obama vowed Tues., Jan. 28, in his State of the Union address to sidestep Congress "whenever and wherever" necessary to narrow economic disparities between America's rich and poor. He unveiled an array of modest executive actions to increase the minimum wage for federal contract workers and make it easier for millions of low-income people to save for retirement. Obama pressed Congress to revive a stalled immigration overhaul, pass an across-the-board increase in the federal minimum wage and expand access to early childhood education. Another legislative proposal calls for expanding an income tax credit for workers without children. Read the full Associated Press story in the Times Union.