Beshear says he, Jerry Abramson and Economic Development Secretary John Hindman spoke with Ford executives via conference call this morning. Those three plan to meet with Ford execs in Dearborn next month to talk about the future of Ford in Louisville. Beshear did release one bit of news saying he's been told that Ford is committed to having a new vehicle in full production at the LAP by 2010 or 2011.

Beshear also seemed to soften his "I'm against raising the cigarette tax" rhetoric. He was asked twice about the House democrats' plan to raise the cig tax by 30 cents a pack and twice Beshear said he was looking forward to talking with House members about the budget. He never said he supports an increase in the smokes tax but he certainly didn't go out of his way to repeat what he's been saying up until now....."we can't tax our way to prosperity" or "the people of Kentucky are paying enough in taxes."

Casinos: Beshear says he and House leaders worked over the weekend to try and round up more votes for the casino bill. When asked if he was optimistic or pessimistic that he could find the 60 votes needed to pass the House, Beshear refused to bite. He did say it's obvious that the discord among House leaders has made it more difficult to convince other House members to vote for a casino bill.