Former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said he's "flattered" the Republican presidential candidates have been slamming the Wall Street reform legislation that bears his name.
"I should be flattered, I suppose," he told NBC's "Meet the Press" online program "Press Pass" on Friday.
He noted that even though the GOP contenders oppose the legisalation, none of the candidates are offering a viable alternative.
"I don't know of anyone who wants to go back to the fall of 2008. … The idea you're going to repeal it, what are you going to replace it with? No one's asked them that question or even what they're really opposed to in the bill," he said.
Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) were the authors of the 2010 sweeping financial regulation bill, dubbed Dodd-Frank.
The GOP presidential contenders have repeatedly called for the repeal of the law and slammed the regulations it created.
The topic has repeatedly come up in the presidential debates, leading to derogatory comments about the legislation. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said at a debate last month: "If you want to put people in jail, you ought to start with Barney Frank, Chris Dodd," in response to a questioning about why Wall Street executives weren't arrested after the financial crisis.
The former Connecticut senator, who now heads the Motion Picture Association of America, defended the legislation, saying it was passed with bipartisan support.
"While I don't want to suggest to you this is the complete answer, the fact that the right thinks we went too far and those on the left think we didn't go far enough indicates to me we may have it about right," Dodd said.
"I was never crazy about having a bill with your name on it, I say that respectfully," he added.
