By Shamus Khan
In this year’s State of the Union address, President Obama outlined a plan to gradually raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9/hour. Raising the minimum wage has always been contentious, but necessary — conservatives should remember that in 2007, President Bush signed a 41% minimum wage hike into law, while Obama’s is just under 25%. Yet this is a political fight we shouldn’t have to have. The poor — mostly women and minorities — make too little. And the more radical aspect of Obama’s plan could fix that for good. The president has proposed indexing minimum wage, meaning that it would increase each year as the cost of living slowly climbs, free from the whims of partisan bickering.