OT: Where are bill rates going?

I just received the following email from a recruiter for a senior DBA production support 6 month contract position (plus tuning and application enhancement thrown into the mix) in the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area. I was submitted for the contract 2 months ago (at $60/hour W2) and subsequently was begged to reduce that to $55/hour (I reluctantly agreed and are now learning the hard way not to appear desperate or talk money up front, by the looks of it).

>snip

OK, Is there ANY way at all you could reduce your rate to $38.00/hour for the xxxxx position?
>snip

Any suggestions for a suitable reply (I have several in mind but would like to remain courteous at this stage).

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Author: Johan Muller
  INET: c-johan.muller_at_wcom.com

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