Variables not showing up in View

[eluser]floweringmind88[/eluser]
I set a variable in my controller and then I try to print it out in the view and nothing shows up.

If I call a function in the view I can set a variable in the view like so:

$baseurl = $this->base();

but if I have a variable defined in a function of the class I have no access to it in the view.

Am I not loading a helper or is there some configuration I am missing?