too much credit?

We've all heard the phrase "burdened by debt", but what about credit? It's rather common knowledge that lending institutions evaluate your potential debt as well as your actual debt when issuing a loan approval. So, even if you only owe $1000 in credit card bills, if your total available credit for that credit card is $15,000, that is going to be a factor when considering your approval. So why can't credit card companies understand this? Why do they feel the need to voluntarily raise our credit limits without our consent?

As you can probably guess, I'm a bit miffed right now as I just received a letter that one of my credit cards has raised my limit by about 50%. What a joke. Unlike some people who might gripe and complain about not having a high enough limit, this is much more than I need. Not that I'm planning on taking out any loans any time soon, whose approval might hinge on this credit limit. I just don't like the idea of a credit card company doing something like when it is not by my request. It also makes the idea of credit card theft that much worse. After all, if someone were to steal my credit card, they're going to have quite a bit more fun with it before they max it out.