Because A "Command Economy" Worked So Well For The Soviets...

...that their empire collapsed, and its people have never recovered, subsisting on vodka and third world services while crony capitalists make billions by paying off the right people in a not-quite-democratic government.

This is the model, incidentally, that Barack Obama and the Democratic party are so eager to follow.  And trust me, they know where it will lead.  That's the point, of course.

The Wall Street Journal gently reminds us of a little flaw in Obama's compromise on the HHS mandate forcing religious organizations to pay for "birth control"- you know, the compromise that says employees of these organizations can/must receive free "contraception" coverage from their insurer if their employer refuses to cover it:

There is simply no precedent for the government ordering private companies to offer a product for free, even if they do recoup the costs indirectly.

Ah - so now we see what "transformative change" really is - working for free to fulfill the agenda of the Obama Administration. Incidentally, when other nations engage in this practice, it's called "forced labor"...

The Weekly Standard:

...what would give the federal government the authority to order private companies to offer a products for free? Could such a mandate really be justified under Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce? Is there really no difference between regulating commerce and mandating that it be free?

Moreover, of all the products or services that companies could feasibly be required to provide for free under such an extraordinary conception of federal power, why birth control and abortifacients? Why not bread, or books, or actual medical care for actual diseases?

Good question. The mind reels at the potential answers, none of which are comforting...


Tangent/rant:
But given the way a command economy works, I can see Obama passing a decree that the medical community must cure cancer by November 2012, and then claiming credit on the campaign trail for eradicating the disease. Sounds crazy, but as a precedent, the Administration is bragging about "raising fuel economy standards" when all they did was "order" that it be made so. In response, car manufacturers are making vehicles lighter, stripped down, and more expensive. Which will cause more death, disability and (economic) destruction as cars become less affordable. Which will lead to another Obama directive demanding that Americans buy more cars, with government subsidies being offered for people below a certain income level. Which will be paid for by raising taxes on those people who make too much money to afford a subsidy but not enough to buy a new car. Which will lead to more economic disruption....

Which brings us full circle back to the Soviet model, and its outcome...