President Obama has already made transparency a key theme for his administration, and it's clear he expects the same from leading companies in the credit card industry. Sitting at a long table surrounded by key executives from corporations such as American Express, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Capital One, Obama stated, "No more fine print, no more confusing terms and conditions. We want clarity and transparency from here on out" (The Washington Times). Has the moment finally come?

Have you avoided paying your tax bill with a credit card because you just couldn't bear paying any more than you must to anyone on April 15th? I suspect many of you fall into this category, as do I. Even if the dollar amount is small, the thought of paying an additional 2.49% to cover the fee charged by credit card companies always makes me cringe. So, I continue to pull out the trusty checkbook, dust it off, and write one of the handful of checks I send out each year.

Rise up all you frugalists and be heard! Now is your time to finally enjoy some bragging rights. While your friends bought multiple homes, boats, cars, and racked up some serious credit card debt to keep up with the latest trends, you quietly lived within your means and saved up a pile of cash for troubled times. It may not have been easy at first, but after awhile you found it became a natural part of your everyday life.

Under normal circumstances, debt forgiveness results in taxable income. Not a fun position to be in if you're the original debtor. However, in December 2007, Congress passed the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act in an effort to provide tax relief for struggling homeowners by temporarily lifting this rule for debts forgiven on primary residences. More recently, in October 2008, Congress extended the relief to include debt forgiven in calendar years 2007 through 2012 as well. So, if you have restructured your home loan and reduced the amount owed, or had debt forgiven as part of a foreclosure during this time, it's important to remember that you may no longer owe taxes on that amount.

American Express won't share the juicy details behind how it chose the select few, but Reuters recently reported that the credit card giant is actually offering some U.S. cardholders $300 to pay off balances and close their accounts. My, how things have changed, eh? A short time ago credit issuers were stepping all over each other trying to become the card of choice in everyone's wallet, and now they're willing to pay cash to just get out before the economy gets any worse.