Going into Saturday night’s Texas Patriots PAC debate, Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich knew the focus was going to be on the big three entitlements: Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. That only makes Cain’s apparent ignorance of the difference between “a defined benefit plan” and “premium support” all the more galling. Here is the transcript:

A defined benefit plan would be what Medicare is now: government pays for all approved medical services for program participants. A premium support system would be more like House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s Path to Prosperity budget, which reforms Medicare for those under 55. Under the Ryan plan the government would give a defined contribution to each program participant who could then use the money to enroll in the plan of his or her choice.