NEW YORK, NY Dec. 15 (DPI) – Nobel Prize winning – and hopelessly partisan – economist Paul Krugman decided to write, days after tornados killed scores of Kentuckians, that denizens of the Bluegrass State are nothing more than wards of the state. “Kentucky’s economy lives on federal dollars,” Krugman wrote. “And that’s OK!”

Krugman’s column cites Rockefeller Institute research showing that Kentucky is among the states most dependent on federal aide programs, “It would be nice if people in places like Kentucky both accepted that and acknowledged how much they benefit from being part of a greater whole.,” Krugman wrote.

The New York Times, perhaps anticipating some reader backlash, left off a reader-comment section. The data Krugman cites is somewhat controversial, as conservatives point out that places like Kentucky have substantial military populations, and paychecks to service personnel are included in such “government support.” Krugman makes passing reference to the military’s presence in the state.

Even with no comment board, The Wall Street Journal’s James Freeman, whose job is to scan the internet for stimulating pro-conservative narratives, unloaded on Krugman for both his timing and the substance of his claims. Krugman, Freeman wrote, “exploits tragedy to recycle dubious claim.”