Honestly, other than the benefit of everything being consistent in the back end - it seems a bit pointless to me. Thinking about the impact on the community, does it really matter that rep is reclaimed in such a manner?

For many people who have passed a landmark, or are approaching a landmark - you'll get an initial reaction of "why has my rep been stolen?" (sample size: 1 :)) - hey, I'm over it but its not a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.