Banks to repay U.S., and more

Banks to repay U.S.

In a sign that strains on the U.S. banking system are easing, the Obama administration will allow 10 banks to repay $68.3 billion granted them under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, received the loans at the height of last year’s financial crisis. Critics said that by allowing the banks to repay the money, the government loses the leverage to force changes in the way the banks operate.

War contracting faulted

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The U.S. wasted as much as $13 billion on construction and other contracts in Afghanistan and Iraq, a bipartisan congressional commission concluded. The commission blamed inadequate oversight by an understaffed auditing branch. In one case, the U.S. paid millions to contractors who built housing for U.S. commanders in Afghanistan, even though fixtures were broken, plumbing did not function, and ceilings were unfinished.