US president Barack Obama warned the nation Tuesday that the decades-old promise of a secure and rising middle class is under threat because of growing wealth disparity, says the Washington Post, in his election year State of the Union address which is expected to serve as a template for the campaign ahead. Mr Obama outlined a series of steps that he believes will reinforce the tentative economic recovery, including proposals to eliminate tax incentives for companies to move jobs overseas, to make college more affordable and to expand help for credit-worthy homeowners looking to refinance mortgages at historically low interest rates. Many of his proposals centered on changes to the tax code, including limiting deductions for companies that move jobs overseas, rewarding companies that return jobs to the US and increasing taxes on wealthy Americans, says the NYT. The US president said tax reform and budget reduction should be guided by the principle that anyone with annual income of more than $1m should pay a minimum effective tax rate of 30 per cent, the FT reports. The text released before the speech also pushed drilling for shale gas  as a potential boost to the economy, reports Bloomberg. Hydraulic fracturing, which injects a mix of water, sand and chemicals underground to free gas trapped in rock, could create 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade, Mr Obama’s prepared remarks said. Read more