Corporate megastores are spending millions lobbying DC politicians on one-sided policies that send small businesses tumbling.

They want to enact harmful credit card mandates that take resources away from your local credit union and community bank.

Leaving Main Street businesses with less access to credit, making it harder for your family to pay for everyday goods like gas and groceries.

Tell Congress to guard your card and oppose the Durban Marshall credit card mandates.

Paid for by Electronic Payments Coalition.

Consumer spending helped the U.S. economy grow in the third quarter by its fastest rate in two years.

Plus, what happens to a community when its main employer closes up shop?

Take Lexington, Nebraska, population 11,000.

It's hard to understate how important that plant has been.

It's a massive economic engine. It's the cornerstone of that town. It's the

largest employer. Like when you think of Lexington, it is a meatpacking town. And what's driving the

rise of the eight-year auto loan? It's Tuesday, December 23rd. I'm Alex O'Soulaf for the Wall Street

Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

In a good sign for the U.S. economy, GDP grew at a 4.3% annual rate from July through September.

That's the strongest growth in two years, and it beat economist's expectations.

The Commerce Department released its report today after delays from the government shutdown.

For more on what drove that growth, I'm joined now by Chow Deng, who covers the U.S. economy for the journal.

Chow, break this down for us. What's behind this growth?

It was clear that consumer spending was very strong.

Economists think that that's due to high-income consumers carrying a lot of that spending. And then the trade component

played a role, too, as it did in the second quarter, imports continue to contract, which

bumped up the headline growth figure. And then lastly, investment in AI

...