As Americans, we like to believe the rule of law in our country is respected and fairly applied, and that only those who commit crimes of fraud or violence are punished and imprisoned.

But the reality is often different. It is surprisingly easy for otherwise law-abiding citizens to run afoul of the overwhelming number of federal and state criminal laws. This proliferation is sometimes referred to as "overcriminalization," which affects us all but most profoundly harms our disadvantaged citizens.

How did we get in this situation? Here's how:

Congress creates, on average, more than 50 new criminal laws each year. This has translated into more than 4,500 federal criminal laws spread across 27,000 pages of the United States federal code. (Note: This number does not include the thousands of criminal penalties in federal regulations.)

As a result, the United States is the world's largest jailer - first in the world for total number imprisoned and first among industrialized nations in the rate of incarceration. The United States represents about 5 percent of the world's population but houses about 25 percent of the world's prisoners.

We have paid a heavy price for mass incarceration and could benefit by reversing this trend. We support the following five-step approach to criminal justice reform:

I was having dinner with Robin Williams' next door neighbor when we both learned of his suicide.  We were on a cruise ship on the Baltic Sea, where I was a lecturer.  We were both shocked at the news, he less than me.

"I didn't know him well," he said, "and mostly saw him when he was walking his dog along our street in Tiburon.  He was always friendly and had a nice smile for you.  I must say, though, that over the last couple of weeks, he seemed quite depressed as if a dark heavy cloud was pushing down on him.  As a medical doctor, I was concerned."

Most any of us can rattle off their favorite Robin Williams movies.  Mine are Dead Poets Society, Good Will Hunting, Hook, Jumanji, Good Morning, Vietnam - and my favorite of all, Moscow on the Hudson.  Made in 1984, it was wonderfully pro-American and anti-Soviet.

He was extraordinarily gifted and talented, beloved and admired by millions, wildly successful, enormously famous, and mega-rich.  Yet at 63 in the prime of his life, he willfully terminated his existence.  Whatever demons he had living in his brain, he let them defeat him.  There should be a sobering lesson in his tragedy for us as Americans.

Lying takes a huge toll on our relationships, our physical health, and our mental health. But sometimes we’re not so clear about what it means to be honest. Does it mean we say everything that we think or feel?

There are very strong benefits to honesty; and also some common sense guidelines as to what’s appropriate to express.

This TTP Intel Bulletin comes at the personal request of Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA).

Dana is asking as many TTPers as are able to call their Congressman immediately and request they vote NO on HR 1249, the "America Invents Act."

The reason for the urgency is that the bill may be voted on tomorrow (6/22).

HR 1249's ostensible purpose is to "harmonize" US patent law with patent laws in other places in the world - like China.  Yes, that's crazy.  Who would want American inventors to be ripped off by Chicoms and their phony laws?

Today (5/08), memorial services will be held at Washington's National Cathedral for a great American, Jack Kemp, who succumbed to cancer six days ago at age 73.

Arguably, without Jack Kemp, the Reagan supply-side, high-growth economic revolution would never have occurred. Mr. Kemp, a young congressman from Buffalo, N.Y., convinced Ronald Reagan and much of the nation of the wisdom of sharply cutting tax rates on labor and capital.

When Ronald Reagan ran for president in 1980, he wisely endorsed a bill - the Kemp-Roth Act - to cut income tax rates 30 percent across the board. It was a radical idea, but it worked so well that not even the current president is proposing a return to the 70 percent marginal tax rate that existed in 1980.