If subprime credit card issuers have their way, the bad credit cards of the past may end up looking like alter boys compared to the thugs of the NEW bad credit cards.

According to the Associated Press, subprime credit card issuer First Premier bank in a recent mailing floated a test offer for a preapproved credit card for people with bad credit. Unlike most so-called fee-harvester subprime credit cards, the card came with a low annual fee of $75 and-oh, yes, by the way-a 79.9 percent APR.

The record credit card APR comes in reaction to a new provision of the Credit CARD Act, which Congress passed in May. In an attempt to rein in abusive credit card practices, the new credit card law caps the fees that subprime credit cards will be able to charge.

Credit cards for people with bad credit have earned the name fee-harvester cards, because of the high upfront fees charged to new cardholders.

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If you struggle with bad credit, you are not alone. According to the credit rating agency Fair Isaac, more than 70 million people in the U.S. have credit scores low enough to qualify them as subprime borrowers. Because people with bad credit typically can’t get approved for prime credit cards, they instead often turn to the so-called subprime credit cards when they want to apply for a credit card.

Subprime credit cards, or unsecured credit cards as they are also called, have met with much criticism because they come with very low limits, as low as $250, and they charge hefty fees for the services they offer. The new CARD Act of 2009 does put some curbs on the fees that subprime cards can charge by restricting subprime card issuers from charging more than 25% of the credit limit the first year, once the new rules step into effect in February of 2010. H

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In today’s economic climate, lay-offs continue to swell the ranks of the unemployed, and those already unemployed face increasing competition for fewer jobs. If you have bad credit, you are particularly disadvantaged as about 40 percent of prospective employers are performing credit checks as part of checking out the background of job candidates.

If you have bad credit, it is still possible to secure a position, but you need to be a bit more proactive about how you go about applying for a job. Here are a few tips that can help people with poor credit overcome the stigma of bad credit when applying for a job:

1. Know which employers are more likely to require credit checks. Government organizations, both local and federal, carefully scrutinize applicants’ credit reports before making decisions. Lik

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