By David Jackson, USA TODAY

President Obama has attached a big number to his jobs bill: 1.9 million.

At a private fundraiser last night, Obama said his proposal would create 1.9 millions jobs, while reducing the 9.1% unemployment rate by a percentage point; he also said it would add two percentage points to the gross domestic product.

Assuming it's passed by Congress, that is.

"The Republicans in the House, their natural instinct right now is not to engage in the kind of cooperation that we'd like to see," Obama said in promoting his American Jobs Act.

Obama's projections appear to be based on those made by Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analystics, who also spoke of 1.9 million jobs and a percentage point drop in the jobless rate.

Zandi also criticized the plan for ignoring the home foreclosure "crisis," calling that a major impediment to the economic recovery.

And any economic projections are dangerous in the political context -- as Republicans prove every day when they cite the mistaken impact of Obama's 2009 stimulus bill.

"Back in 2009 he promised that the stimulus one would keep unemployment below 8%," said Republican Party chairman Reince Priebus. "Well of course it's still above 9% and it's been that way for many, many months."

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