National News From Getthedaily.com - your online source for news! In today's top stories: The Federal Reserve insists help is on the way, plus Microsoft makes European history, in a bad way, and What happened to Starbucks yesterday? Hi everyone I'm Andrea Rene for get the daily.com. Let's take a look at some top national stories. This morning Federal reserve chairman Ben Bernanke appeared on Capitol Hill proclaiming that the economy is getting worse! I think we are guessed that, I mean, look at gas prices! Ouch! He warned Congress of an impending sluggish economic growth period and hinted that another interest rate cut could be coming next month. The combination of the housing slump, deteriorating job market, and increased caution on the part of lenders has only worsened the economy. However, he is hopefully that the 168 billion dollar economic stimulus plan and the interest rate cuts will provide some relief in the second half of 2008, if we can make it that far! Software giant Microsoft was backhanded by the European Commission today with a fine of 899 million Euros, or $1.35 BILLION dollars. The fine was punishment for using their high prices to discourage competition, and is part of their on-going anti-trust litigation, which Microsoft didnt seem to think was that serious. That brings their current European union fine total up to 2.5 billion dollars for abusing the dominance of PC operating system WINDOWS, the largest ever for any company in history. And, Microsoft's problems don't stop there, two new investigations were opened last month and more fines could be levied unless they clean up their act. But, given the prospect of a Yahoo and Microsoft merger, I don't think losing the money really bothers them. Did anyone else notice the mystery Starbucks closing time yesterday? No? Not a fan? Well to millions of Starbucks customers, it might have been an inconvenience, but Starbucks hopes it was worth it. The company closed its coffee shops three hours early yesterday to retrain its employees on how to make a proper espresso. All stores now proclaim "Your drink should be perfect, every time." Starbucks made the move to do a mass training because their once booming stock has fallen 50 percent since late 2006, with many customers complaining of falling quality standards. And, the world's leading coffee shop said they are committed to turning that around. Stores are now open for regular business and Starbucks will continue with more training throughout the month. You just heard some top stories from get the daily.com. I'm Andrea Rene and be sure to check back for ongoing news coverage. starbucks, microsoft, espresso, coffee, anti trust, europe, euros, european, customers, stock, economy, interest rates, houses, jobs, federal reserve, chairman, capitol hill, congress, gas prices, european commission, PC, windows, monopoly, competition, anti trust, drink, perfect, training, employment, news, national, headlines, getthedaily