I guess modded users should be able to...But may a limited amount...But you're modded for a reason...Being modded would be pointless if you didn't have some punishments...If you want to give rep, then stop making stupid threads all the time
I thought modded meant having an eye kept on you, not being punished per se. Why not have rep-giving a privilege kept/revoked at the mods' discretion? I could list circumstances under which a person could be modded (especially if automodded) for -rep where he should/should not be able to rep others.
I think each modded person should be (and no doubt is) treated on a case-by-case basis.
While most of the time a high -repcount generally reflects a user who deserves a publicly displayed warning label, there are times when the high -rep stigma defeats the good it serves.
1. +rep is harder to get than -rep. When you get below, say, -2, you may be considered a repleper, and no matter how good your subsequent posts, people won't +rep you, as your -rep cooties may transfer. Or they think you a bad man who, having done such bad things, doesn't deserve +rep period, even though you do good things unrelated to your bad deeds. Why repent if there is no point? Unless you simply make good posts for the sake of it, why go out of your way to work five times as hard to get a +rep as a popular person needs to, when you would still have -19 anyway? I think it is good to give a fair way out for those who erred and want to change their ways. And such people certainly exist: there are several people who remain active participants here, with a deep investment in the forums, who persist for months with a high or high-ish -repcount. We should consider how we want to treat them.
2. A mistaken post or few can get a hellovalotta -rep fast; digging one's way out of a pit is a heroic and valiant struggle; there are a only couple of cases I've seen someone do this.
This is why I like the idea of a cap on the number of rep a single post can get. see thread
http://www.adisc.org/forum/administrative-stuff/4352-disabling-rep-reporting-closed-threads.html
Essentially, have a cap on the total rep (+/-) a given post can receive, as reflected in the user's postbit repcount, while allowing all repcomments to be received by the user.
For these reasons I have been a long-time fan of hidden -rep. There could be a variation, whereby a person with -repcount may have the repcount show as being in a "zone" ie (indicated by colour or maybe a meter icon) -repped, very -repped, extremely -repped.
I have no idea why 1) betagame is @ -20, and 2) if he had done so many bad things of such extreme badness as judged by so many people, why is he not banned? Is at least some of the rep undeserved? Did he do many minorly bad things - enough for -rep - but no really evil things? I assume the mods have put their heads together and have good reason to let this situation persist - and do not owe the public an explanation of it. I have the utmost faith in our mods/admins, for reasons many and long.