Two recent documents expose the impact and the intent of Republicans’ insistence on slashing federal, state and local government jobs. The impact, as revealed in last week’s dismal jobs report, is substantial and felt by us all. The intent, as communicated by a March report from Joint Economic Committee Republicans, heralded by Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), is to diminish the economic prospects of every working American.

There is no denying the reality conveyed in the jobs report – too few jobs were created in every category and by every measure. Yet, while just 18,000 jobs were added last month, the private sector created 57,000 jobs. Indeed, during the past year, the economy has added nearly 800,000 private sector jobs.

Then how is it that only 18,000 jobs were added last month, and just 100,000 in the last year?

The answer lies in another sector: government. The morbid math works because 39,000 government workers lost their jobs last month, along with more than 660,000 others during the last year. Teachers, police officers, firefighters, safety inspectors, child abuse investigators and scores of other job categories have been hit hard.

No one would argue the private sector is humming based on these numbers. But they do suggest budget cutting is helping drag down the economy. State, local and federal government employees have families to feed, children to educate, housing to pay for, consumer products to purchase and healthcare to procure.

The fact that these former government employees no longer have dollars to spend not only creates private tragedies, but also ripples through the economy as businesses from grocery stores to car dealers to homebuilders take in less money and hire fewer workers themselves.

A recent Brookings Institution study found growth of government employment was more closely associated with economic recovery than any other factor. “Among the nation’s 100 largest metro areas, [of] the 20 that have recovered most strongly from the recession