American credit card debt is up more than eight percent from a year ago. That’s the highest amount ever recorded. In these tough economic times, it’s important to keep a close eye on your credit cards. Consumer Reports says some companies are doubling or even tripling their interest rates- and it’s not just happening to people with a bad credit rating.

John Carmichael says he always made his credit-card payments on time and had never had problems with his credit rating. But earlier this year, the interest on his Bank of America Visa card nearly tripled overnight. From around eight percent to nearly 25!

“To jump from a low rate to a high rate in one fell swoop, with no justification in something that I did wrong, I think is bad business,” says John Carmichael.

Bank of America says Carmichael had too much debt, even though his card balance was almost one thousand dollars below his limit. Carmichael speculates that banks are changing credit-card terms to compensate for their mortgage-related losses. Consumer Reports Chris Fichera says that’s possible.

In the reports the candidates filed earlier this month, 30 days before the election, Antcliff raised more that Arditti, $15,815 to $7,500, but spent less, $12,518 to $16,714.

Arditti has reported spending just over $170,000 in her primary race and runoff and general election races. One thing really stands out in her campaign finance totals: Of the $170,116 she has reported spending, she has only raised $27,223 in outside contributions.

The issue arose last week when she was being interviewed on KHRO-AM by Barbara Perez, and Arditti reportedly said she was using credit cards to finance most of her campaign.

The last time I heard that was from former County Judge Dolores Briones, who once told me she financed much of her first campaign with credit cards in 1998 and lived off them as well leading up to the time she took office. Why? She simply didn’t have a job.

The fact that she was unable to pay off that debt caused Briones a lot of grief and embarrassment over the years. She even went to the county salary grievance committee to make her case for a raise as the lowest paid county judge of a major county in Texas, and played on being Hispanic, female and a single mother.