State of the Union: Barack Obama urges Congress to support his 'year of action' First Lady Michelle Obama (C) prior to US President Barack Obama's State of the Union address (EPA) However, that optimism was tempered with a frank admission that America's politics had become paralysed by the "rancorous argument over the proper size of the federal government." The president wearily admitted that reversing the tides of decline "won't happen right away, and we won't agree on everything." Nonetheless, in a perhaps deliberately workmanlike speech, Mr Obama said he was offering "concrete practical proposals" to speed up growth and create opportunity for the middle classes, including using his executive powers to raise the minimum wage for US government contractors to $10.10. The promise to go it alone comes after a frustrating year for Mr Obama who used his 2013 State of the Union to urge Congress raise the minimum wage to $9 (GBP5.43) for all workers but was blocked by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives which argued the measure would hurt business. Army Ranger Sergeant First Class Cory Remsburg gives a thumb up during the address (EPA) This year he asked Congress and bosses across American industry to do what opinion polls show a majority of Americans support and raise a wage that - adjusted for inflation - is now at 1950 levels. It will give businesses customers with more money to spend. It doesn't involve any new bureaucratic program. So join the rest of the country. Say yes. Give America a raise," he said. Aides said the decision to raise the wage for federal workers - and a raft of similar small independent policy proposals such as asking businesses to sponsor broadband internet in schools - were intended to signal of his determination to kick back against political gridlock in Washington. The president, who campaigned for re-election in 2012 as a "warrior for the middle classes" painted a down-beat picture of an economic recovery that has delivered little to the wage-earning classes - but said he was determined to improve opportunity. "Today, after four years of economic growth, corporate profits and stock prices have rarely been higher, and those at the top have never done better," he said, "But average wages have barely budged. Mr Obama repeated many of his entreaties from last year - to close Guantanamo Bay, pass immigration reform and invest in education - but all were greeted only with partisan applause, with the majority of Republicans remaining firmly in their seats. Barack Obama receives a standing ovation while delivering his State of the Union address (EPA) On foreign policy, Mr Obama was applauded for the continued progress towards withdrawal from Afghanistan and his pledge to protect against terrorism while moving American off the "permanent war footing" it had been on since the September 11 2001 attacks. However on Iran there was a visibly lukewarm reception from both sides of the political divide for Mr Obama's promise to veto the passage of any new Iran sanctions legislation which is now pending in the Senate with strong bipartisan support. "If John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan could negotiate with the Soviet Union, then surely a strong and confident America can negotiate with less powerful adversaries today," challenged Mr Obama, but only a handful of Democrat members stood to applaud. Only at the end of his speech, when Mr Obama told the story of Cory Remsburg, a US Army Ranger who was brain damaged and partially paralysed by a roadside bomb in Kandahar, Afghanistan, was their genuine shared feeling between Republicans and Democrats. "My fellow Americans, men and women like Cory remind us that America has never come easy," said Mr Obama, glancing up to the box where the soldier sat next to his wife, Michelle. But if we work together...I know it's within our reach. Believe it. US Vice President Joseph Biden (L) and Speaker of the House John Boehner (EPA) However with an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showing yesterday 68 per cent of Americans feel their country the same or worse off than when Mr Obama took office, his difficulty is that not enough people do believe. Republicans moved to try and capitalise on that sagging support, using their official response to ignore Mr Obama's piecemeal approach and propose an alternative vision of their own based on expanding individual choice and opportunity. "The President talks a lot about income inequality," said Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the highest ranking woman Republican in the House of Representatives, "The real gap we face today is one of opportunity inequality. And with this administration's policies, that gap has become far too wide.