Over the holiday break, liberal Bleeding Heartland blogger Laura Belin called on Axne to stop holding and trading individual stocks. 

Over the last year, Axne has come under fire for trading stocks in companies she regulates in Congress. As a member of the Financial Services Committee, Axne has been caught trading stocks in Visa, Mastercard, and Markel Corporation.

Belin said, "Moreover, it’s reasonable for people to question whether Axne influenced the timing of any of these trades, given how easy it would be for a member of Congress (or spouse) to communicate with a money manager. Divesting from industries under the jurisdiction of the Financial Services Committee—or better yet, from all individual stocks—would eliminate the appearance of any conflict of interest or undue influence."

Belin even went further by calling on Axne to take the issue off the table and, "[co-sponsor] bills that would prohibit all members of the House and Senate from trading individual stocks."

"Even Iowa Democrats agree that Cindy Axne's shady stock trades are not only a political liability, but wrong," said Republican Party of Iowa Communications Director Kollin Crompton. "It's clear that Axne is focused on using Iowans' congressional seat as a way to line her own pockets rather than putting Iowans first." 

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