Gasoline prices topped $5 a gallon in some cities. The national average for regular on Friday was $3.64, but don't blink when you're filling up. The price shot up a dime in just two minutes during a live TV report from Los Angeles.  In Washington, Sen. Bernie Sanders said a "deeply flawed" consolidation plan announced by the U.S. Postal Service on Thursday underscores the need for Congress to act, and act soon. A congressional investigation will look at the alarming number of new state laws making it significantly harder for millions of eligible voters to cast ballots. Sanders asked for the GAO probe.  Meanwhile, he and other senators told the Federal Election Commission that voters deserve to know who is bankrolling political campaign ads.

Pain at the Pump 

Gas prices are up 5 percent in the past month alone. Crude oil prices stood at $108 on Friday up from only double digits at the beginning of the month. Current average for regular unleaded in Vermont: $3.72, 6.9-cents-a-gallon above the national average of $3.64. Prices rose 5.4 percent in the last month and 13.2 percent in the last year. Sanders has long maintained that the main culprit is Wall Street speculators and loosely-regulated energy markets. Commissioner Bart Chilton at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission agrees. Watch an ABC News report. 

The Right to Vote 

A group of U.S. senators on Tuesday asked the Government Accountability Office to study what they called an "alarming number" of new state laws that will make it "significantly harder" for millions of eligible voters to cast ballots this November.  The non-partisan research arm of Congress was asked for the review of new laws in at least 14 states "to ensure that all citizens have the opportunity to exercise their constitutional right to vote and are not unreasonably hindered or burdened in that process. Some of the new restrictions, Sanders, Richard Durbin, Patrick Leahy and Bill Nelson said, are tantamount to poll taxes. "What right-wing Republicans are doing is trying to suppress the vote ... It's an absolute outrage. People can have differences of opinion, but to go out of your way to try to make it harder for poor people, for minorities, for students, for older people to participate in our democratic process is totally unacceptable to me," Sanders told Rachel Maddow. Read the senators' letter, Watch Rachel Maddow.

Super PACs 

Voters deserve to know who is paying for political advertisements, Sanders and 10 other senators wrote in a letter sent on Tuesday to the Federal Election Commission. The panel is considering rule changes in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC, which struck down limitations on corporate funding of political ads. The senators called on the commission to implement broad disclosure and disclaimer requirements so that voters know who is funding campaign commercials. Sanders also has proposed a constitutional amendment to overturn the ruling. Read the letter.

Postal Service 

At least 223 mail processing facilities could close or merge as part of a Postal Service plan announced Thursday. The consolidations could result in a loss of roughly 35,000 jobs. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said the plans remain "very fluid" and could change if Congress acts. Sanders, who led a push to delay any further postal consolidations until May 15, called the consolidation plan "deeply flawed." Closing processing centers would further slow mail delivery and drive away more customers, he said.  In Vermont, workers at a White River Junction mail sorting center were among those who were told their plant is among those to be shuttered if Congress doesn't act. Sanders said the Senate will soon take up Postal Service reform, including his plan to modernize the mail. A majority of Senate Democrats back Sanders' effort. Read more.