5:49 PM PT: John Harris asks Rick Perry to explain why he argued in his book that Social Security was wrong from the very beginning. (Though Harris doesn't bring up that Perry said it was unconstitutional.) Perry doesn't really answer, but says that SS is a "monstrous lie" and a "Ponzi scheme" and that we "need to transition" away from it.
5:51 PM PT: Harris asks a follow up about Rove's criticism of Perry, and of Cheney saying it's not a Ponzi scheme. Perry says he's not backing away from anything he wrote in the book, and that he's not responsible for anything Karl Rove says.
5:54 PM PT: Harris now asks Romney about Perry's Social Security platform, accusing Perry of being committed to "abolishing Social Security" and saying that he wants to save it. Romney skewers Perry for saying Social Security is a "failure." Perry defends himself by saying the status quo is not sustainable and that it is a Ponzi scheme. But he doesn't say what he wants to do about replacing it, if anything. Herman Cain says we should do what Chile did, which is to eliminate the system by privatizing it.
5:57 PM PT: This is kind of exciting, in that we have the first real policy difference of the evening: Perry saying SS is doomed and must be transitioned away from, Romney saying it's basically a good program that just needs tweaking. Naturally, Harris changes the discussion to Perry's HPV vaccination policy, asking Ron Paul whether Perry's mandatory HPV testing plan shows that Perry isn't actually a real conservative. Paul speaks with some passion about being against the mandatory HPV vaccine. Harris then asks Bachmann about it. HPV vaccination is really a huge and pressing issue so I can understand why we'd want to talk about HPV instead of Social Security.
6:00 PM PT: Now Harris asks Rick Santorum to defend creating the Department of Homeland Security, a position Rick Perry had criticized. Santorum obliges, but says he wants to talk about the HPV vaccination issues. These guys are such clowns, Harris included. They speak with more passion about HPV vaccinations than Social Security. Harris now asks Mitt Romney to comment on this issue. For crying out loud.