this would suggest that the bush tax cut policy was highly regressive, but some writers, notably at the koch-funded tax foundation, argue that the concept of a progressive tax should be detached from its traditional association with income redistribution, noting that since the share of income of the most wealthy rose so much during the period, their share of the total tax burden went up even as their tax rates went down. between 2003 and 2004, following the 2003 tax cuts, the share of after-tax income going to the top 1% rose from 12.2% in 2003 to 14.0% in 2004. (this followed the period from 2000 to 2002, where after-tax incomes declined the most for the top 1%.) at the same time, the share of overall tax liabilities of the top 1% increased from 22.9% to 25.3%. in this way, they claim, the tax system actually became more progressive between 2000 and 2004.