Apparently, Governor Romney is not the only one who feels that it is time for PBS to stand on it's own two feet, just like Big Bird does.

The White House won't say if it will go to bat for the tax deduction that allows "viewers like you" to help fund Sesame Street, PBS and other public broadcasting programming.

Mitt Romney's comments on Wednesday that he would cut government funding to PBS and fire Big Bird sparked outrage and mockery on the web, with President Obama joking on the stump that he didn't know Big Bird and Elmo were driving up the federal deficit. Obama supporters even chanted "P-B-S" at the president's Friday rally in Virginia.

But federal funds are just one source of PBS, NPR and public broadcasting's revenue — paid to them through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Much of their revenue stream comes from viewers and fans — whose contributions and pledges to public broadcasting are tax-deductible.

Obama, Romney and members of Congress of both parties have called for base-broadening, tax reform efforts that would simplify the current tax code and put those tax-deductible charitable contributions on the chopping block. Asked Friday if they would seek to protect the tax-deductibility of donations to entities like PBS, White House spokesman Josh Earnest wouldn't comment.