I find it ironic that it's the RW media that's latching on to this when this type of policy took hold in New Orleans under GWB's regime in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

GWB's HUD (The U.S. department for Housing and Urban Development) and the Housing Authority of New Orleans decided it was better to bulldoze 1000's of housing units, some of which had survived Camille as well as Katrina, and then to lease the land to private developers for 99 years.

http://www.cwsworkshop.org/katrinareader/node/542
http://www.cwsworkshop.org/katrinareader/node/560

The police had to keep protesters away from city council meetings with pepper spray and batons while council members voted 7:0 to go ahead with the demolition.  Many of these protesters were former residents and at least one of their lawyers was arrested.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/20/neworleans.protests/index.html

This appears to have been swallowed, digested and forgotten by the U.S. mainstream two years ago.  Post Katrina New Orleans provides the blue print of how to help developers at the expense of the low income and unemployed.

http://southernstudies.org/2008/03/half-new-orleans-poor-permanently.html