President Barack Obama says this year will be the "year of action." At his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Obama said he would go around Congress if he felt lawmakers on Capitol Hill weren't getting the job done. Obama already has announced a $2.85 increase in the minimum wage for workers under new federal contracts and a new program to help lower-wage earners save for retirement. Democratic Congressman Paul Tonko, who represents New York's 20th Congressional District, says he supports the president's focus on domestic issues, and agrees that executive action may be needed to bypass gridlock.
In a radio career that has spanned nearly 35 years, Ray Graf has done it all. At one time or another he worked as an overnight board operator, a commercial copywriter, a reporter and a voiceover announcer. For several years - a lifetime ago - he was a morning drive disc jockey. Graf has been a member of the WAMC News team for 16 years. These days, he finds himself as The Roundtable's news anchor, panelist- and occasional guest host for Joe Donahue. "Radio news is not always easy," said Graf of his most recent radio vocation, "but it's not nearly as difficult as spinning a Michael Bolton record at 5:45 in the morning and pretending you're happy about it."
