Bill Maher Drops A Reality Bomb On Republicans: American middle-class was created though socialism

[JDPriestly]

61. Dictionary definitions

: a way of organizing a society in which major industries are owned and controlled by the government rather than by individual people and companies

Full Definition of SOCIALISM
1
: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2
a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property
b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3
: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/socialism

We are talking about a social safety net as was Maher.

A lot of Americans call that socialism. What is really meant is that the owners of the "means of production" (i think that is an outmoded term) are taxed to provide a social net for everyone. It isn't exactly socialism.