President Barack Obama on Jan. 28 delivered a State of the Union address in which he touted progress already made or offered new proposals on healthcare, jobs creation and the minimum wage.

Obama vowed to raise the minimum wage for federal workers to $10.10, and said the government should have a renewed focus to “train Americans with the skills employers need, and match them to good jobs that need to be filled right now.”   Healthcare has been a major point of debate for many Americans since the enactment of Affordable Care Act. Despite glitches at the start, Obama said there has been ample progress since its enactment.

Obama said that “because of the Affordable Care Act, more than 3 million Americans under age 26 have gained coverage under their parents’ plans. More than 9 million Americans have signed up for private health insurance or Medicaid coverage.”

Obama also lauded the fact that the legislation prevents insurers from denying coverage to citizens; “Because of this law, no American, none, zero, can ever again be dropped or denied coverage for a pre-existing condition like asthma or back pain or cancer. No woman can ever be charged more just because she’s a woman. And we did all this while adding years to Medicare’s finances, keeping Medicare premiums flat and lowering prescription costs for millions of seniors.”

While Obama can use an executive order to raise the minimum wage for federal workers, he called on Congress to raise the minimum wage nationwide. It’s not clear whether Republicans in Congress will agree, however.

Students at Bucks agree for the need to raise the minimum wage. Student Zaryab Bangash, believes “the minimum wage should be $10 per hour so the standard of living is acceptable. So that people who can’t obtain a higher paying job can make a living off of the money they make with the job they currently have.”

The wage hike would affect an estimated 30 million citizens toiling at minimum wage jobs. Economists, using inflation figures from the past 40 years since the wage was enacted, suggest raising the minimum wage to $10.59 per hour.

Other than increasing wages, Obama made a push for quicker and more efficient job training to get people back to work.

“That means more on-the-job training, and more apprenticeships that set a young worker on an upward trajectory for life,” Obama said. “It means connecting companies to community colleges that can help design training to fill their specific needs. And if Congress wants to help, you can concentrate funding on proven programs that connect more ready-to-work Americans with ready-to-be-filled jobs.”

Obama also trumpeted the fact that the U.S. has ended its military involvement in Iraq, and is gradually withdrawing from Afghanistan, slowly bringing an end to “the longest war in U.S. history.”

“Tonight, because of the extraordinary troops and civilians who risk and lay down their lives to keep us free, the United States is more secure,” Obama said. “When I took office, nearly 180,000 Americans were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Today, all our troops are out of Iraq. More than 60,000 of our troops have already come home from Afghanistan. With Afghan forces now in the lead for their own security, our troops have moved to a support role,” he added.