In a market were the job market is higher than the number of people looking for jobs, your logic is okay. But as soon as it's the other way around, as it is now, you don't have a chance of finding a job if you don't lower your rates. There will be at least one other consultant as skilled as you who will lower his rates and get the job.

>Well, the base rule is the hourly rate should be as per the capacity of the consultant. If a consultant charges 100.00$ an hour, that is probably because he knows he worths it and that he could deliver, for example, twice amount of work as anyone with half rate would do, would deliver a successfull project as oppose to a risky delivery for junior consultants, etc. So, there are a lot of factors why someone would charge more. It's not only about experience, in term of years, but about the success of your involvment and what you could bring as additional value within an organization.