By Eric Morath
Wall Street Journal, Jan 20, 2015
... Congress hasn’t acted on the president’s calls to raise the minimum wage ... Still, the White House doesn’t view that as a failure. Instead, the administration is quick to highlight the number of states, cities and businesses that have increased their pay floors in recent years. Last year, 14 states passed minimum wage increases, including four via ballot initiatives. ...
Business Shout-Out
Mr. Obama may use the speech to once again salute businesses that voluntary pay their workers higher starting wages. Last year, he invited the owner of Punch Neapolitan Pizza in Minneapolis to the Capitol and praised him for paying workers at least $10 an hour. The president has also publically pointed to Gap Inc., Costco Wholesale Corp., Shake Shack and a Michigan deli [Zingerman's] as examples of successful businesses that pay more than minimum wage. ...