A savage assault against the poor – especially poor children –  is under way in America.

One manifestation is the budget proposed by Florida Governor Rick Scott (click here for details).  He plans to lay off thousands of government workers, and slash funding for Medicaid, education, child welfare and just about every other program that enables the poor and sick to survive in his state. And he is just one of several Republican governors who have served notice that America’s war on the poor has begun.

Of course, Scott is also proposing severe reductions in corporate taxes.

It’s a familiar Republican pattern – tax cuts for the rich and cuts in services for the poor.

I can’t see the state legislature going along with Scott’s shocking savagery; it’s way too extreme – even for Republicans.

But I expect Republicans nationwide – prompted by the extremism of the Tea Party – to adopt policies that squeeze the poor and throw the middle class out of work.

This will inevitably undermine America’s consumer economy. Joblessness will rise, and spending will decline, causing more joblessness. A vicious cycle will be set in motion.

The global corporations will be unscathed. With rapidly escalating investment – and burgeoning sales – in emerging economies such as China and India, they no longer need the American consumer. As America slips inexorably into Depression, other global markets – powered by the corporations – will rise to take its place.

I can’t see America’s impoverished masses accepting this peacefully. Protests are bound to erupt. And with rising unemployment and diminished government assistance, crime will flourish.

Call me a conspiracy nut, but the Republican strategy looks to me like a prescription for the destruction of American society and the beginning of a new world order in which corporations rule supreme.