FLASH to PHP and BACK

I cannot get my var to send to php, then return.
The oncomplete listener reports back this for the following:
event.target.data: me=%24me
while eLoader.data.me = $me,
[php]<?php
$me = $_REQUEST["me"];
echo 'me=$me';
?>[/php]
var requestMe:URLRequest = new URLRequest();
var sendMail_lv:URLVariables = new URLVariables();
var eLoader:URLLoader = new URLLoader();
eLoader.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, handleResponse);
eLoader.dataFormat = URLLoaderDataFormat.VARIABLES;
requestMe.method = URLRequestMethod.POST;
function launchClick(event:MouseEvent):void {
sendMail_lv.me = "working";
requestMe.url = sendConfirmEmailFile;

requestMe.data = sendMail_lv;
// send the data in the URLRequest to the server
eLoader.load(requestMe);
trace('request = ' + requestMe.data);

}
function handleResponse(event:Event):void {
trace(event.target.data);
senderBody_txt.text = event.target.data;
bubble_mc.confirm_txt.text = eLoader.data.me;}