The Supreme Court's expected decision tomorrow on Obama's health care bill comes at a good time for Mark Critz -- it serves to misdirect attention from his vote on holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress over the botched "Fast & Furious" probe.

CNN reports that a good number of rural-ish Democrats are likely to vote for the resolution because it's getting pushed hard by the politically powerful National Rifle Association. Critz has pushed pro-gun legislation in the past and the NRA endorsed him over GOP rival Tim Burns in 2010.

Critz's campaign isn't showing his hand, saying it will issue a statement after the vote. We haven't heard back from his congressional office.

Congress and House oversight/government reform chair Darrell Issa are close to sparking a consitutional crisis with the vote, warns Duquesne Law dean Ken Gormley, the author of The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr. In the midst of the Lewinsky scandal fellow chair Henry Hyde nearly did the same thing to AG Janet Reno, he writes in today's PG:

Independent Counsel Ken Starr's investigation had floundered. Mr. Hyde and his team were prepared to subpoena reams of documents from the Justice Department relating to alleged finance violations by the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign. When the Justice Department refused to comply, the Republican Congress would hold Ms. Reno and other officials in civil contempt, locking them up in a "jail-type facility" like street criminals.

Mr. Hyde authorized Mr. Schippers to take this extreme step. It was only because the Republicans took a drubbing in the November elections that their secret plan was taken "off the table."

Mr. Issa's maneuver in 2012 is right out of the same play book. (In fact, his predecessor, Mr. Burton, still serves on the oversight committee.)

Mr. Issa apparently has never read Federalist No. 47, in which James Madison explained the necessity of keeping our three branches of government separate under the U.S. Constitution: "There can be no liberty where the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or body of magistrates." Similarly, Alexander Hamilton, writing in Federalist No. 9, warned that the three "departments" of government had to be kept separate, with strong checks and balances, to guard against political factions running amok.

Political factions are indeed running amok in the U.S. Capitol these days, and both sides need to stop it.

UPDATE: The spokesman for Critz's GOP opponent Keith Rothfus wants to know where the incumbent stands too:

“Once again, the current representative of the 12th district is trying to fool his own constituents because for him, politics comes first.  With all of the evidence against Eric Holder what is Congressman Critz waiting for?  It is outrageous that our representative either cannot make up his mind or needs to first gain the permission of Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leadership before taking a vote.  I am confident that on Election Day the voters will prove they won’t be fooled by the political game of smoke and mirrors the congressman is playing and will demand the leadership they deserve.”

With the second quarter fundraising deadline coming at the end of the week, GOP US Senate candidate Tom Smith is set to make a "substantial contribution" to his campaign against incumbent Democrat Bob Casey, the Morning Call's Casey Itkowitz reports:

"We continue to have great fundraising success and Tom is prepared to make another substantial contribution to the campaign this quarter,” Jim Conroy, Smith's campaign manager's told The Morning CallTuesday.

Conroy would not say how much money Smith plans to drop this week to close out the second quarter of the year. Smith had previously told the DC-based publication Roll Call that he expected the race to cost $20 million, but did not say how much of that would be self funded.

Smith, a former coal company owner from Armstrong County, put $5 million of his own money into the wide-open GOP primary this spring. The latest Quinnipiac poll has him down 17 points to Casey.

The presidential race in Pa has tightened slightly, with Barack Obama clinging to a 6-point lead over Mitt Romney in the latest Q poll, so it's no wonder the president will be traveling this way next week.

Obama has a 6-point lead over his GOP challenger in Pa after holding an 8-point lead in May. He has better news in swing states Ohio and Florida, where Quinnipiac found a dead heat last month but leads of 9 and 4 points in June.

“President Barack Obama has decent margins over Gov. Mitt Romney in Ohio and Pennsylvania and a smaller advantage in Florida. If he can keep those leads in all three of these key swing states through election day he would be virtually assured of re-election,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in a statement.

The poll also has US Sen Bob Casey up 17 points over GOP rival Tom Smith, and Gov. Tom Corbett with his worst approval numbers of his year and a half in office. From the pollsters:

Women carry the day for Obama in Pennsylvania, backing him 48 – 36 percent, while men are divided 41 – 42 percent. Romney leads 76 – 10 percent among Republicans and 43 – 37 percent among independent voters, while Democrats back the president 82 – 7 percent.

Obama gets a split 45 – 47 percent favorability rating, compared to Romney's negative 34 – 39 percent favorability.

The president's job approval rating tips negative 45 – 49 percent and 45 percent of voters say he deserves reelection while 47 percent say he does not.

Pennsylvania voters split 44 – 44 percent on who would do a better job on the economy and 44 – 43 percent on who would be better for them personally.

Voters support Obama's immigration policy 51 – 41 percent and say 44 – 38 percent he would do a better job on immigration.

Voters disapprove 50 – 35 percent of the job Gov. Tom Corbett is doing, his lowest approval rating since he took office 18 months ago.

Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Robert Casey Jr. leads Tom Smith, the Republican challenger, 49 – 32 percent.

"Pennsylvania voters have no great love for President Barack Obama, but at this point they like Gov. Mitt Romney less," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Women, especially, are in the president's corner.

"Gov. Tom Corbett continues his steady dive in popularity, from a 50 percent approval rating last September down to numbers that rival the embattled governors of Florida and Ohio.

The AP reports Obama will take a bus tour -- his first of the campaign -- through northern Ohio and Western Pa after the July 4 holiday:

Obama's itinerary for the bus trip was still being finalized, but the official said the president probably would hold events in northern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. The official insisted on anonymity in order to discuss details of the trip ahead of the campaign's official announcement.

UPDATE: The state GOP's spokeswoman Valerie Caras welcomes the president:

“When President Obama comes to Pennsylvania for his ‘broken promises tour’ next week, he’ll have a lot of explaining to do. Pennsylvanians are asking: President Obama, where are the jobs, and why have you continued to put up road blocks for small businesses to hire hardworking Pennsylvanians? Why has the deficit skyrocketed during your term? Where is our comprehensive energy policy and why have you waged a war on coal? Three and a half years of broken promises are enough and Pennsylvanians know that President Obama hasn’t done enough to earn a second term.”

We noted last week that the Mark Critz will try to make the Medicare changes in the conservative House Republican budget an issue throughout the fall campaign against challenger Keith Rothfus. The Democrat's first hit concerned WVa Republican David McKinley's problems with the budget (which Rothfus supports) and today his campaign points to another GOP effort to knock the Ryan plan. This one comes from the Senate campaign of Montana Republican Denny Rehberg, and an ad the state party is running in his challenge of Democrat Jon Tester.

From the Critz camp:

"The budget that Keith Rothfus supports is so bad for senior citizens, even conservative Republicans say that it harms seniors," Mark Critz's spokesman Mike Mikus said. ""Keith Rothfus wants to replace Medicare's guaranteed benefit with a voucher program that would force seniors to pay $6,000 more per year for out-of-pocket expenses, all so millionaires like himself can get even more tax cuts. Seniors can't afford a plan like that, and they sure can't afford to send millionaire Keith Rothfus to Washington."