Two Networks In One!

CNN/Money reports today that “Gas prices hit highest average ever in 2012.”

Gasoline prices averaged the highest ever in 2012, despite never topping the single day spikes seen in 2008.

The nationwide average price for a gallon of regular gas hit $3.60 in 2012, according to AAA. That’s up 9 cents from the previous record high of $3.51 a gallon set in 2011.

AAA blamed hurricanes, refinery outages and tensions in the Middle East for the high prices.

Oh sure — it’s all so “unexpected:”

But Time-Warner-CNN-HBO wants to see those prices rise even higher: “One fiscal cliff fix: Raise the gas tax,”  CNN/Money wheedled to Mr. Obama in late November:

As lawmakers race to negotiate a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, some experts say one tax increase should be on the table: a gas tax hike.

Currently at 18.4 cents a gallon, the federal gas tax is used primarily to build and repair roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure. The tax raises about $32 billion a year.

But that’s not enough. The government hands out about $50 billion a year to states and towns to help with road costs. The difference comes out of general funds or has to be borrowed. Meanwhile, the gas tax hasn’t been raised since 1993.

Certainly not because of a lack of begging by the MSM.

Related: “The top 10 states with the highest state taxes on a gallon of gasoline are blue states — meaning they voted for President Barack Obama in 2012 — with the exception of two states that, however, were blue in the 2008 election and then turned red this year.”

Hey, for radical environmentalists, a bad economy is its own reward.