Discover sucks as of late.
They're in the giving mood....
Just not for CLI's it seems.
This is really making me question whether or not I still want to pull the trigger on Disco next month...
Sure, the 0% for 14 mos was the main incentive, along with the first year Double-cash, but I know after that intro period my BCP will reclaim it's spot at the front of the line. And if it's now going to be difficult to grow the card to pad the util, then the 0% Intro BT is useless to me as well. Hmmm... 
My weekly mail offers recently improved to show the 11.74% APR again, still not sure if it's worth the HP... and I'm pulling the trigger on PenFed next month, as well - it seems they are more willing to ante up and roll the dice on new accounts a lot more than Disco is these days. 
Interesting tidbit, maybe...?
My Disco CL is $27,800. I had been getting regular increases, 31 days apart for a few months & then every 61 days. Last increase was Feb. 21 and ever since then I've been getting the "not enough experience at current credit limit" reason for denial.
My husband's Discover was at $8,600 and I've always done the CLI requests at the same time. He had been getting denied (same reason) since Feb. also. Today I tried again. I was denied, he got an increase of $2,800. This seems to fit with your theory, Brutal.
But, another difference has been that I really haven't used my card since the last increase...I actually think not at all. Last month, though, he used his several times (mostly in home imp category) and ran up a balance of just under $1,000. I paid that completely off a few days ago and he has since used it to the tune of the current balance of $465. Maybe usage is playing a role in some cases, too?
I used total household income on both of our apps & obviously we have the same savings & housing cost info. My scores are actually 30 to 40 points higher than his.
Chase Sapphire Reserve $30,000 | Amex BCP $30,000 | Discover It $30,000 | Citi Simp $16,500 | NFCU Cash Rewards $14,400 | Citi DC $9,800 | Chase Freedom $9,000 | VS $4,100 | Kohl's $3,000 | Loft $3,000
This sux because I just started getting CLI recently. I think discover is predicting a recession. Hopefully a recession happens so I can buy cheap investments.
Starting Score: Ex08-732,Eq08-713,Tu08-717