"We're not giving raises" says upper management!

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Who else's company (that they work for) is staunchly saying that no one is going to be getting raises because of "the economy"? The company I work for has been saying that since Late 2008 and have not given up that stance. Of course, they gave me a conditional raise of .50 cents (for how much they're paying me - and by that, I mean little, it doesn't make ALL that much of a difference to me) - but what are your feelings about this? (And I only got a raise because I filled in for my manager for 6 weeks, at part-time pay - because normally managers get abuot $15/hr, whereas with the raise, I get $8.75). To me, this is extremely and totally frustrating. How are you not going to give raises for TWO YEARS?! It's upper management using "the economy" as an excuse to be cheap and screw over employees, in my opinion. Because our numbers are up. And honestly, how much money would it cost to give a small raise to worthy and long-standing employees? Anyway, this was more of an opportunity for me to rant about the company I work for than to start a discussion, so I'm sorry. But I'd also like to hear what you think and your experiences. Has your job done this? Are "exceptions" being made? What's your company's CEO/owner/upper management's excuse? How long has it been going on?