Oil Just Hit $117. The House Already Killed the Gas Tax Break.

Brent crude briefly crossed $117 a barrel Friday, its highest level of the war, after Iran's Revolutionary Guard claimed it disabled seven tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, CBS News reported. Brent was under $97 at the start of October. None of Iran's claims had been corroborated, and President Trump accused Iran of making them up to push prices before the midterms.

Now look at Beacon Hill. Healey's supplemental budget proposed suspending the state's 24-cent gas tax for two months. The Legislature stripped it on Oct. 20, and the House passed its version of the $2.354 billion closeout budget without it on Oct. 21, the Enterprise News reported. Speaker Ron Mariano had already called a gas tax suspension "fiscally irresponsible." WBUR reported House members worried about the cost.

Healey's spokesperson said she'd "continue to push for this relief." Republican nominee Mike Minogue has proposed a suspension repeatedly, the Enterprise News reported. So now you have a governor and her opponent agreeing on something, and the House saying no.

My take: 24 cents a gallon doesn't fix a war-driven spike. But the timing is brutal. If oil stays up, everybody who said no on Oct. 20 is going to be explaining it at the pump in November.

What we still don't know: whether the Senate puts the gas tax break back in, what it would cost the state, and where Brent goes after this weekend.