Pushing the Blame

"Don't Blame the New Deal", read the headline of an editorial on the New York Times. The article discusses the current economic crisis, and more specifically, it's cause. While the author admits to flaws in the current regulatory system, his claim was that the source of the crisis was not the set-up, but rather the management and regulation of it. Laws concerning financial regulation were made without much thought or clarification being put into them. Congress created a law in 1995 that "restricted the ability of investors to sue companies, securities firms and accounting firms for misstatements and pie-in-the-sky projections" which gave people a falsified sense of freedom when it came to giving out loans; An effect that would later play a large part in the mortgage crisis. Although it is a difficult point to accept, he states that it is something that needs to be accepted in order for similar situations to be avoided in the future.
All in all-I would say this was a very solid argument. The point is not exactly what people want to hear, it would be a lot easier to just push the blame onto the set-up of the system rather than accept that it was caused by the carelessness of those regulating it. For this reason I wouldn't say the argument appeals to the Pathos. However, by employing many examples backed up by strong evidence, the author appealed to the logos, or logical outlook.