Economic recovery, my ass

Is it just me or does it seem like all the economic news these days isn't good?  Where's the fucking recovery that the President and every asshole Republican and cable tv and talk show pundit says we're in?  It seems like unemployment claims are unexpectedly up, this index or that one dropped or rose unexpectedly (dropping and rising being bad).  I'm no economist and perhaps I'm wrong here.  I've got no facts here, admittedly--this is just my overall impression of what's going on.
 
Let's see.  Since March 2001, when the first tax cuts were passed, we've been promised a recovery that's just around the corner.  March 2001, for fuck's sakes.  It's July 2004.  Corporations got billions upon billions of tax relief there and in successive tax breaks.  Remember, this is what the "grownups" tell us: tax cuts for corporations allows them to expand their businesses and create new jobs; yes, there will initially be deficits because of the decline in tax revenue, however, the taxes from the new jobs created will make up for this lost revenue.
 
Sure, we've gotten little spurts of growth here and there, and it hasn't been a complete disaster.  But does anyone see a boom coming?  Is anything we're getting going to even come close to justifying the massive tax cuts that are going to bite us in the ass someday?