Just read this and there is an amazingly simple fix. Kelp the number below names. Let that be your "badge" of greatness.
Then make every single rep (positive or negative) worth a +1. You still get the joy of have your little number, but you aren't any better than a new poster, an awesome poster or a crappy poster.
You can positive or negative rep, the poster sees that you like/dislike their post, but their isn't this "tiered" system anymore. We are all equals, and you can really see who the best posters are, and not who the posters are that have their buddies positive rep every post they write.
*cough*GEORGE!*cough*